TOPIC: Slow is Zen

I have been trying to get into practicing excrutiatingly slowly, trying to play each note, hammer on, pull off with perfect clarity and precision. If the note doesn't sound good it is a failure.

Practicing like this is very Zen and kind of interesting in itself. It's a completely different activity then playing.

One of the stories told about Mozart was that he used 10 coins to practice with. Each time he would play something perfectly he placed a coin in a jar. If he made a mistake he would remove all the coins. He would practice until all 10 coins were in the jar. For most of us this would not work since we would die of malnutrition.

Keep practicing.

Missed ya this week. Get back soon!

Hey, I bet that's where my dad got the idea of placing the beans on one side of the piano....that I got to move to the other side after each piece was played...(however, I didn't have to play them perfectly....and I was known to move 2 and 3 at a time... but usually got caught! Missed you in class Wednesday night!