The Joy of Music
For the past couple of weeks I've been practicing a lot in preparation for accompanying Christine Staples for her recital this Sunday, June 27, at 3:00 PM, at The Crowden School in Berkeley.
Some of the Schubert songs present technical challenges and I've been isolating the difficult parts, analyzing and solving the issues and then playing the parts correctly 20 times in a row before integrating them back into the whole phrase.
Since I know that I am growing and wrapping myelin as I do this, it is quite satisfying and pleasurable. However, since I am repeating the same movements over and over, if my primary focus isn’t "staying free and fluid in my movements", my hands and arms fatigue or little warning pains appear.
As many of you know, pain is a fantastic teacher. To stop the pain and avoid injury, I shift from trying to play it accurately, to slowing down enough that playing it accurately is easy and I can focus on freedom and fluidity. The happy result is the growth and wrapping of myelin without fatigue or injury. In fact, I'm wrapping the freedom and fluidity in with the accuracy.
And, and this is a big And, as I practice this way, the music reveals itself to me. Phrasing, dynamics, rhythmic inflection, all show up and they seem to experiment on their own without the interference of my ego's ideas about how the phrase "should" be played.
This is such a powerfully pleasurable experience it makes me want to practice again and again.
Lamb again, indeed! The big secret is revealed once again. You can't get to this amazing experience by trying to play accurately and musically. You can't get there by allowing your ego to run the practice session and tell you how you should be singing or playing. You can't get there by listening to your ego's comparisons of how others sing or play.
In other words, you can’t get there by endgaining.
Just play or sing your piece.
Notice a place that needs some improvement.
Figure out what the obstacle is.
Experiment to find a solution to the obstacle. (Ask your teacher if you can't find one yourself.)
Wrap myelin around the solution by repeating it many times at a speed where it can be accomplished so easily that you can focus on freedom and fluidity.
Enjoy all the surprising beauty of expression that reveals itself to you.