Posted on May 14th, 2009 at 9:08 am by admin
Aristotle once said, “You are what you repeatedly do.” For the purposes of my performing at the piano, and my students’ training, I say, “You are only as accomplished as that which you can consistently produce.”
I, for one, have always loved “Olympic moments”. I get such a rush watching people do more than it was ever thought possible.
But, really….
Whose thinking is that?
If we wrote down the true “Olympic moment” equation, it might look something like this:
1 Olympic moment = 5000 private practise moments
This person on the podium in the medal ceremony knows that that moment is possible. It’s not guaranteed, even with all the dirty work. But all of the dirty work is the only insurance policy there is.
I love meditating on the insights of great philosophers. How do they know these things? I think they learned a lot by teaching…I know I have. It’s been said that if you really want to learn a subject, teach it to someone else. There are several music theory concepts which finally became clear to me after I was forced by a “comprehension-challenged” student to explain them several different ways.
Years ago, I would have thought that the most talented students in my studio would have automatically been the most successful. With probably just a couple of exceptions, this has not been the case. In my experience, the students who consistently practised the same amount of time each day, despite being a bit less talented, came out ahead the vast majority of the time.
It’s been frustrating to watch some very talented students get the hang of something very quickly in the studio, only to go home and sit on their “proverbial posterior areas” and do nothing to build on it.
I think there is the difference — it’s about forming, and building on, relationships. The olympian has a “5000-visit” relationship. Wow…what a knowledge of self! I want that for all of us as pianists…a great, intimate relationship with the instrument.
And Aristotle would say, “Yes… and how is a relationship formed?….
“….by what we repeatedly do.”
Posted on May 13th, 2009 at 10:11 am by admin
I am officially back in my corner of the planet…
After taking a sabbatical, of sorts, to determine what function I would really like my “Ivory Zone” blog to serve, I realize that that is exactly what I want it to do — to SERVE.
I would never, for one minute, say that my way of communicating via the piano is the only way; or, that my playing methodology is the most effective.
But after over thirty years of playing, and fifteen years of teaching, I strongly feel that I would like to share what works for me and my students…and what doesn’t. Hopefully, this can be of help to some interested people out there!
My first return entry is about — confidence.
For years, I remember ‘looking’ very confident. Just the right smiles in all the photographs, polite handshakes after performances….hmm. But feeling confident? Where was that? I had no clue how to pull any of that off. I secretly hoped that one would be able to tell.
It finally started to occur to me: confidence isn’t really a feeling…it’s actually a BELIEF. A very, very QUIET belief.
And beliefs are based on the very best information and knowledge you have, which is your preparation. I realized that I had no right to believe something would happen that I had not seen, first-hand, happen many times before under varying conditions.
This new outlook completely changed how I train at the instrument, as well as the work I do with my students. Now, when we go forward, we strive to draw upon what we know can be…..not what we hope will be.