Even though it is attributed to Jascha Heifetz, no one really knows who first said, “If I don’t practice for one day, I know it. If I don’t practice for two days, the critics know it. If I don’t practice for three days, the audience knows it.” But most musicians have said a version of this about themselves. What is, really, the harm with taking a day off from practicing?
In our daily race to keep up with the demands of being performing musicians, we risk harm to ourselves by not paying attention to our mental state. Burnout is common in many professions and has been studied widely. Taking a day off can keep burnout at bay. But is it good for our playing?
The violinist Hilary Hahn has taken some very public time off from the violin.
The performance psychologist Noa Kageyama, who is also a Juilliard-trained violinist, advises that “if you’re not going to practice, give yourself permission to take the day off and avoid second guessing yourself…”
That’s good enough for me. I’m taking a day off from practicing today.
We all have to keep on keepin’ on when it comes to playing in tune. Since we are fallible humans playing with other fallible humans, every note we play has a chance to go a little off. Here are a few thoughts about keeping up with the challenge of playing in tune: Don’t rely just on your tuning app. While tuning apps can be a good reality check about what our ears are telling us,
Musicians are, in general, remarkably unaware of how copyright works. I can say that because, although I consider myself a fairly well-informed musician, I have learned a lot about copyright since I started my music publishing career. Questions that I encounter: Q: If I wrote this arrangement of this copyrighted work, don’t I own the arrangement? A: No. The copyright holder of the original work owns the arrangement. In fact, you should get permission from
When we practice, we are learning to move our bodies in the optimum way to fulfill our musical intention. We improvise, try things out, experiment with this or that musical intention and find the most efficient and effective way to move to achieve that intent. When we practice well, we are rehearsing a sequence of movements that are guided by a series of musical intentions. When we work through a difficult spot, we are intensifying
Woody Allen said, “80% of success is showing up.” But showing up shouldn’t mean simply being in the room. Showing up should mean being present—attending to what’s happening around you. As an orchestral trombonist, my role in the orchestra often meant that I stayed in the background for long periods of time. Entire movements of some symphonies don’t have any trombone at all. It’s tempting to “check out” during those times. However, I found it
In some musical circles and in some eras, transcriptions have been disdained. The current trend in authentic performance practices for music of the Baroque era, for example, is difficult to replicate on some modern instruments. Another concern is that music from other cultures will be “culturally appropriated” if played by Western musicians on Western instruments. But isn’t there some value in transcribing music? Although pianists, violinists, and cellists could live their entire performing lives playing
I’m at a performance of the San Francisco Symphony tonight, with James Gaffigan conducting. Program: Missy Mazzoli: Sinfonia (for Orbiting Spheres) (2014) Samuel Barber: Violin Concerto, Opus 14 (1940), with violinist Ray Chen Sergei Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, Opus 100 (1944) Live music is the best music.
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