Posts

Showing posts from October, 2023

You Get to See a Video This Week

Image
 Hope you enjoy this video! It's one I greatly appreciate for both the message and the quality. 

Word of the Week

 Tempo The speed at which music is performed

My Story: Singing in Piano Class

Image
 I think I'm just about out of musical memories as a student that would make good "My Story" posts. I have many music memories, but most of them would not work well in story format. They're too general. Like formally serving dessert and trying to keep the chocolate off my white sleeves at a Mother's Day handbell concert. Or the many Festival performances I participated in, and the exciting years when I made it to the Gala Concert (now called the Showcase Concert). The frustration of trying to capture the feeling of a song that I had been given to work on. The thrill of a performance. The joys of playing in church over the years. Yes, many memories, but not many good stories that I haven't already written about. Consider this the last "My Story" post until further notice.     When I was taking lessons under  Mr. F.,  as I prepared for my Grade 10 exam, he instructed me to create a practice sheet for him to write notes on with different categories. One

Practice Tips: Embrace Your Mistakes?

Image
 Hi, all    Today's post is more of a challenge than a tip. Think of it as a science experiment. You get to take a hypothesis running out there, and prove whether or not it works. (But it might take time to prove, so don't just try it tomorrow and go, "That didn't work." The idea is to try it long-term and see.)    Years ago,  my teacher (Mr. F)  gave me a couple of documents on different ideas for practicing. Actually, one was an entire article all by itself. The gist of the article was that, rather than always "fixing" our mistakes, it may be beneficial in some cases to repeat the mistake, on purpose. Then, after that, you aim to play it correctly. It used studies from long jumping to make its point.     Recently, I came across this idea again in  The Bulletproof Musician's  email newsletter. Which made me start to think about it more seriously -- especially since, in this case, the quoted study was not the same long jump study, but one on baseball

Word of the Week

 Largo Slow and broad

Happy Thanksgiving!

Image
 Have a very happy Thanksgiving weekend, fellow Canadians!     And to my international readers, wherever you are, may your day bring you much to be grateful for!  P.S. The absolute best reason to be thankful is found in Jesus. He offers us the best gift anyone could ever give -- to live forever in His love and joy. If you don't Jesus personally, and want to learn more, I encourage you to  click here to find out how to receive Jesus' amazing gift!