Artistic temperament

The phrase “artistic temperament” is used so often, I wonder whether we know what it means. In this post, I want to explore various assumptions I’ve been thinking about all week.  My interpretation of the phrase as it relates to myself is somewhat different, I suspect. When you hear someone say “artistic temperament,” do you [...]

Following my own advice

Image via Wikipedia Until now, I’ve been writing about what I feel is optimal in terms of practicing and staying healthy.  And since I’ve recently emerged from a year of unanticipated interruptions, I am happy to be practicing every day and working out again after a complete stop. Lately I’ve found that I have significantly [...]

Excuses or progress? You decide.

Image by Yay, it’s Rob! via Flickr “I could play it in the practice room!” How many times have you heard this from your students?  How often have you said it yourself?  I have both heard and said (although not recently!) these exact words. I would suppose that this rates as Excuse #1, the one [...]

Increasing the tempo

Image via Wikipedia When you have a piece that needs to be substan-tially faster in a week, how do you accomplish that?  Seems like quite a leap! What is your method? Hit and miss?  Cross your fingers?  (It’s hard to play that way…)  Guesswork? Having a plan helps. Not only is it more reliable, but [...]

How do you return to practicing after a hiatus?

Image by alexanderward12 via Flickr Happy New Year, Everyone!  Wishing you health, happiness, peace and prosperity in 2010. I am starting to practice again after a 3 week break.  This post explores some aspects of how I return after taking some time off. Although we may vow to practice every day without exception, we all [...]