Practicing piano
Jennifer
>>>>Instead of thinking of it as "practicing, "changing the term to
"playing" might help too. I play the piano. I don't
want to
"practice" the piano. I'm playing it, for my own
enjoyment, for my
own purposes, when I feel like it.<<<<
I'm a professional pianist, and I never use the term
"practice," either out loud or in my mind. Either I
"play," or if I'm specifically doing something I need
to do for an upcoming performance, I'm "working on
stuff."
Jenny
____________________________________________________________________________________
Fussy? Opinionated? Impossible to please? Perfect. Join Yahoo!'s user panel and lay it on us. http://surveylink.yahoo.com/gmrs/yahoo_panel_invite.asp?a=7
Sandra Dodd
-=-I'm a professional pianist, and I never use the term
"practice," either out loud or in my mind. Either I
"play," or if I'm specifically doing something I need
to do for an upcoming performance, I'm "working on
stuff."
-=-
Keith and I sing with a madrigal group sometimes, and this last year
we performed $250 worth. I hate that. I only want to do things for
free, and not for obligation.
But anyway, we called it "singing." And we called it "rehearsing"
the last two times, because we were timing the performance and
deciding who needed to stand where when and who would start which
song how.
We talk in terms of learning a new song, or working on a song, or
running through a song (when it's one we know well but haven't done
for a while).
A friend of mine who's taking voice lessons told me today she's
working on a new aria for a competition in Greeley.
"Practice" seems to be something adults inflict on kids. I think
it's a bad idea.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
"practice," either out loud or in my mind. Either I
"play," or if I'm specifically doing something I need
to do for an upcoming performance, I'm "working on
stuff."
-=-
Keith and I sing with a madrigal group sometimes, and this last year
we performed $250 worth. I hate that. I only want to do things for
free, and not for obligation.
But anyway, we called it "singing." And we called it "rehearsing"
the last two times, because we were timing the performance and
deciding who needed to stand where when and who would start which
song how.
We talk in terms of learning a new song, or working on a song, or
running through a song (when it's one we know well but haven't done
for a while).
A friend of mine who's taking voice lessons told me today she's
working on a new aria for a competition in Greeley.
"Practice" seems to be something adults inflict on kids. I think
it's a bad idea.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
jessi koons
I don't really have that association of practice as something unpleasant that is forced by someone else on an unwilling participant. I tend to use the word "practice" to differentiate a specific mindset and approach to my time with the guitar, as opposed to playing through pieces, or performing (sidenote: sometimes I practice performing...to work specifically on the skills associated with performing). When I practice guitar, I am usually looking really closely at some element of my playing, and trying to think analytically about how I am working to improve it. When I'm playing, I'm trying not to be analytical, but to allow the analytical skill set/framework that I built while practicing to give me a foundation for expression. Ahem--all that to say that I think the word "practicing," when applied to a willing participant who (like me) really enjoys the analytical thinking and the technical work, isn't a negative term. However I can definitely see how all the years of
people being told to practice has given it a negative connotation. The fact is, if you don't absolutely love doing it (working in that analytical manner at technique, or on a specific section of a piece of music, or whatever), it'll be awful. If you do, though, it's another tool in the bag to improve musicianship.
I hope that's another helpful viewpoint. Oh, an add-on thought: I teach guitar at a music store, and I would always much rather a kid have fun with the instrument then trudge unhappily through required practice time. I would rather someone say their kid wants to take a few months break, rather than send the kid in feeling like they've failed because they didn't want to play guitar this week.
Jennifer <beanmommy2@...> wrote:
"playing" might help too. I play the piano. I don't
want to
"practice" the piano. I'm playing it, for my own
enjoyment, for my
own purposes, when I feel like it.<<<<
I'm a professional pianist, and I never use the term
"practice," either out loud or in my mind. Either I
"play," or if I'm specifically doing something I need
to do for an upcoming performance, I'm "working on
stuff."
Jenny
__________________________________________________________
Fussy? Opinionated? Impossible to please? Perfect. Join Yahoo!'s user panel and lay it on us. http://surveylink.yahoo.com/gmrs/yahoo_panel_invite.asp?a=7
---------------------------------
Looking for a deal? Find great prices on flights and hotels with Yahoo! FareChase.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
people being told to practice has given it a negative connotation. The fact is, if you don't absolutely love doing it (working in that analytical manner at technique, or on a specific section of a piece of music, or whatever), it'll be awful. If you do, though, it's another tool in the bag to improve musicianship.
I hope that's another helpful viewpoint. Oh, an add-on thought: I teach guitar at a music store, and I would always much rather a kid have fun with the instrument then trudge unhappily through required practice time. I would rather someone say their kid wants to take a few months break, rather than send the kid in feeling like they've failed because they didn't want to play guitar this week.
Jennifer <beanmommy2@...> wrote:
>>>>Instead of thinking of it as "practicing, "changing the term to
"playing" might help too. I play the piano. I don't
want to
"practice" the piano. I'm playing it, for my own
enjoyment, for my
own purposes, when I feel like it.<<<<
I'm a professional pianist, and I never use the term
"practice," either out loud or in my mind. Either I
"play," or if I'm specifically doing something I need
to do for an upcoming performance, I'm "working on
stuff."
Jenny
__________________________________________________________
Fussy? Opinionated? Impossible to please? Perfect. Join Yahoo!'s user panel and lay it on us. http://surveylink.yahoo.com/gmrs/yahoo_panel_invite.asp?a=7
---------------------------------
Looking for a deal? Find great prices on flights and hotels with Yahoo! FareChase.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Pamela Sorooshian
We all know that "practice" can mean doing an activity over and over
in order to build skills that are then used in the "real" thing.
Soccer practice is not a game, it is working on developing skills and
building endurance in order to better play the game.
But, like the word "teach," it is a very useful practice (sorry,
couldn't resist <g>), for parents to omit the word from their
vocabulary. It kind of forces us to think along different lines -
pushes out of a rut in our thinking.
-pam
in order to build skills that are then used in the "real" thing.
Soccer practice is not a game, it is working on developing skills and
building endurance in order to better play the game.
But, like the word "teach," it is a very useful practice (sorry,
couldn't resist <g>), for parents to omit the word from their
vocabulary. It kind of forces us to think along different lines -
pushes out of a rut in our thinking.
-pam
On Jul 2, 2007, at 4:03 PM, jessi koons wrote:
> The fact is, if you don't absolutely love doing it (working in that
> analytical manner at technique, or on a specific section of a piece
> of music, or whatever), it'll be awful.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected]
In a message dated 7/2/2007 8:09:42 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
pamsoroosh@... writes:
But, like the word "teach," it is a very useful practice (sorry,
couldn't resist <g>), for parents to omit the word from their
vocabulary. It kind of forces us to think along different lines -
pushes out of a rut in our thinking.
___
When we started unschooling 5 years ago, this is actually the first thing
that I changed that helped me with understanding some of paradigm shifts that
would helpful for me to make. My children were then 9 and 13 and we were all
taking piano lessons and we all "practiced" several times a week to be ready
for our weekly lessons which involved walking next door to my sister's house.
It was quickly evident to me that when we each just at down and played
around at the piano we were having much more fun than when we practiced for the
lessons.
I just stopped using the word "practice" and replaced it with" playing" and
stopped reminding anyone (including myself) that I needed to play to get ready
for the next lesson. The piano playing evolved. We all eventually stopped
taking lessons but both kids have continued with music in a gradual fun way.
My daughter sings and plays the guitar and my son plays the drums and
guitar. Both have taken some other lessons but truly play for the enjoyment of it
when they feel like it. I think if they had continued to "practice" with my
reminders on any instrument, they would have long ago stopped playing.
Both children (now 14 and almost 18) have this deep understanding and love
of music from just experimenting and playing together that completely eludes
me. I'm not sure if it's because my "older" age <g> or just my years of
schooling that I have yet to conquer.
Gail
************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
pamsoroosh@... writes:
But, like the word "teach," it is a very useful practice (sorry,
couldn't resist <g>), for parents to omit the word from their
vocabulary. It kind of forces us to think along different lines -
pushes out of a rut in our thinking.
___
When we started unschooling 5 years ago, this is actually the first thing
that I changed that helped me with understanding some of paradigm shifts that
would helpful for me to make. My children were then 9 and 13 and we were all
taking piano lessons and we all "practiced" several times a week to be ready
for our weekly lessons which involved walking next door to my sister's house.
It was quickly evident to me that when we each just at down and played
around at the piano we were having much more fun than when we practiced for the
lessons.
I just stopped using the word "practice" and replaced it with" playing" and
stopped reminding anyone (including myself) that I needed to play to get ready
for the next lesson. The piano playing evolved. We all eventually stopped
taking lessons but both kids have continued with music in a gradual fun way.
My daughter sings and plays the guitar and my son plays the drums and
guitar. Both have taken some other lessons but truly play for the enjoyment of it
when they feel like it. I think if they had continued to "practice" with my
reminders on any instrument, they would have long ago stopped playing.
Both children (now 14 and almost 18) have this deep understanding and love
of music from just experimenting and playing together that completely eludes
me. I'm not sure if it's because my "older" age <g> or just my years of
schooling that I have yet to conquer.
Gail
************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]