Piano Blog

Mastery - A Prerequisite

I promised a post on mastery tonight, but I probably shouldn't write it. Instead here is my best try at getting out of said promise. (Don't worry I'm still writing one!) George Leonard's master is someone almost serene; focused on the flow of ritual and practice. Tonight, this is not me. 

Rather than explain [read: make excuses for] my crankiness, I'd rather divert your attention to a helpful tip for when you're feeling overwhelmed. I first read this technique in the books of David Allen (of GTD fame), but have since seen it elsewhere. This is a great way to clear your mind, so think of this as a "prerequisite" to the Mastery post. You'll be surprised by this exercise if you haven't tried it. 

Here it is: Write everything down.

Literally, take a piece of paper, and write everything down that you can think of. Things to do, worries, chores, future project ideas, whatever comes into your mind. When I first did this, I got around 100 things, which I hear is pretty standard. It's amazing how much stuff is just sitting around up there; tasks and issues that are left as question marks. As David Allen teaches, all this "stuff" bogs us down because our mind doesn't know how to deal with it. It sits at the periphery of awareness, causing stress and anxiety. Once you write it down you can make lists, figure out how to take action, or decide its not important, etc. But first, get it OUT of your head.

This exercise is simply but amazingly effective. The first time I did it, I felt a sense of control I hadn't had in months or even years. 

I'm off to write everything down.

Posting Schedule

Hi Everyone

From now on I'm going to start keeping a more regular posting schedule with Piano Blog. Between teaching, practicing, composing, blogging, and wine drinking I've got a lot on my plate! So from now on you can expect posts on Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Of course today is Tuesday, and I can't help but tell you that I'm off to see a solo recital with Spencer Myer this evening, a phenomenal pianist - I'm very excited!

Just so that you stick around, tomorrow's post (if all goes as planned) will be a very short excerpt from the forthcoming pamphlet on technique for adult piano students. The subject is "The importance of tactile awareness in developing your technique" . . . if you can make heads or tails of that.

Piano Placement and Friendship

My Piano is placed very near my front door. Here's a picture:

 

 

 

 

See? Door, then piano.

I think its fair to say that when you fill a room with pianists and insert a piano, the piano becomes the nexus of almost all social activity. That or wine. Preferably both. 

In any case, since most of my friends are pianists. Typical interaction goes like this:

    Banging on the door ->

    Enter the house ->

    Quick greeting ->

    Start playing the piano

How do normal people function without a piano in the living room? Probably quite normally. Luckily normal is boring. 

 

The Truth about Classical Music

Last night was spent with some musician friends of mine and might have involved too much alcohol. 

But rather than just complain about my sad, sad, state, here's an interesting question: Why is there an aura of snobbishness surrounding classical music? We all know this exists, but my experience has been that it is completely at odds with reality.

In truth, many classical musicians have extremely "colorful", borderline hedonistic, personalities. And quite a bit of classical music itself expresses extreme and profound emotions: love, grief, heartbreak, triumph, etc. 

I realize that a lot of classical music should be taken seriously, and has to be listened to closely. I just don't get why it's so often considered snobbish and highbrow, or so often discussed with a sort of saccharine tone.

Thoughts?

Art as Spiritual Fuel

 This morning a piece of music charged me with so much emotion that I immediately thought of one of my favorite sections from Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead-- where a boy comes upon Howard Roark's architectural masterpiece. 

"Thank you," said the boy. He knew that the steady eyes looking at him understood everything these two words had to cover. Howard Roark inclined his head, in acknowledgment.

Wheeling his bicycle by his side, the boy took the narrow path down the slope of the hill to the valley and the houses below. Roark looked after him. He had never seen the boy before and he would never see him again. He did not know that he had given someone the courage to face a lifetime."

Dealing with the arts (or teaching them) can be stressful. I know that after a day of teaching I'm wiped out. Its good to step back and realize how great it is to be involved with the things that make life worth living. 

Take what you want and pay for it

There's a Rudolf Serkin story where he and a violinist were waiting on a cab to take them to their performance. Instead of waiting, Serkin went back inside for 10 extra minutes of practice. When the cab arrived, the violinist asked, "Will that really make your performance tonight any better?" Serkin replied, "Yes. Ten minutes better." 

This anecdote epitomizes one of my favorite proverbs: "Take what you want and pay for it." I love this Spanish proverb because it addresses so many of life's conflicts. How many problems are caused by being unaware of what it is we really want or being unwilling to pay the price? 

Having values means knowing your priorities and allocating your time and effort accordingly. It means thinking hard about how to gain and keep what you really want in life, instead of just drifting and hoping for the best. The value is what we want and time and energy are the price we pay for it. And since time and energy are limited, we have to find creative ways to employ these resources, as well as make decisions about what gets precedence in our life. We also have to make sure what we want is in line with our long term goals instead of just momentary whim. I think most people, myself often included, sell themselves short by being unaware of how these ends and means align. 

If you want job fulfillment, are you willing to think hard about your long term goals and work towards them? If you want relationship fulfillment, are you willing to put in the time and attention to build something really great; to give someone else that much priority in your life? If you want robust health, are you willing to give up all that junk food and go to the gym regularly? In other words, are you willing to focus and act thoughtfully, instead of going with the flow and settling for mediocrity or worse?  

Piano Blog

This is my first post on pianoblog. I want to see what it will look like. Here, I will talk about piano and whatever else I want.