Monday's Muse

"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep."
 ~ Scott Adams

CTO … I said, "No."

But apparently that wasn't the right answer!

What was the question? See yesterday's post. Then … Check This Out … All relaxed, enjoying the concert, and Ken calls Bart up to play guitar. I'm thinking, "Good for Bart." Then Ken looks and me and says, "Sue, get up here and play my dulcimer!" Me??

It's true that a well ingrained jam session tune would be just the thing. I can play Hangman's Reel in my sleep, right? The tricky part … playing it on Ken's instrument. Pitiful excuse, I know. Took a round to find my place, then it was all fun. Thanks, Ken, for believing in me!

Here's the link: Hangman's Reel, at the Circular Congregational Church, Charleston, SC
Ken & Brad Kolodner (twin fiddles), Bart Saylor (guitar), Sue Wilson (hammered dulcimer)

Stay in Ready Position

Gosh, I must be getting old! Or maybe I'm just getting lazy. My personal policy has always been to say 'yes' to musical opportunities. If the challenge appears too great, too scary, too whatever … I say 'yes' then figure out a way to survive.

Last weekend I was in Charleston with my long-time friend, Bart Saylor, and my long-time teacher/mentor, Ken Kolodner. Ken invited me to play a tune with him and his son, Brad, during their concert on Saturday night. I really wanted to do it, but I'm a bit rusty in the performance mode. Not quite up to speed, the brain pathways are not as efficiently connected as they could be if I had been practicing recently with performance in mind.

Instead, the work I've done recently has been more cerebral. Meeting the needs of my students … arranging tunes, planning lessons, perfecting my teaching schtick … has taken up a large portion of the "music" time in my life. Make no mistake, I've learned a LOT. Teaching others will certainly increase a person's understanding of any topic. But, I'm not "performance ready" and I don't like that!

So, it got me thinking. How does one stay "performance ready"?

Real on-stage confidence comes from:

1. being able to nail a tune consistently
2. knowing that nailing it isn't a coincidence because … 
3. you have identified what is required to play a tune perfectly every time

How do you get there? It's all about how you structure your practice.

Keep up the repertoire
Remember the old Girl Scout song? Sing along, now … Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold. Of course we all want to continue to learn new stuff, but we must constantly revisit the "keepers" that are on our list. They do fade away without attention.

Establish a deliberate, intentional practice.
Deliberate practice is a highly structured activity. "Instead of mindless trial and error, it is an active and thoughtful process by which we relentlessly seek solutions to clearly defined problems." It's slow. It's repetitive. It requires monitoring. Here's a good article about this kind of practice: http://lifehacker.com/5939374/a-better-way-to-practice

What happened at the concert Saturday night? Come back Friday for the rest of the story.

Monday's Muse

You can't be that kid standing at the top of the waterside over thinking it. You have to go down the chute.  ~ Tina Fey

CTO … Have you considered the ergonomics?

Suffering aches and pains? Be more conscious of how you live in your computer work space. This simple video shows what's important:
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152356396177215&fref=nf

But, hey ... Check This Out … Some of these tips apply to playing the hammered dulcimer! It's important to pay attention to posture, position of the body and arms relative to the instrument, hammering habits, etc. Lucille Reilly has written about Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) and the hammered dulcimer. Read all about it here: http://www.thedulcimerlady.com/ouch.htm

What changes will you make in your dulcimer set-up? or maybe you have a true story about how making changes changed your life for the better? Let us know what's working for you!

Practice Creativity

I'm always on the lookout for inspiration, a new idea, a trick that makes it easier to accomplish my goals. No matter the passion of the moment … gardening, cooking, quilting, childrearing, playing the dulcimer … I assume every person I meet has something to teach me about how to do something better.

Of course, many of these tidbits are specific to one area of interest. But when it comes to creativity, the nice surprise is that some bits of wisdom may be applied across the board to all sorts of endeavors.

Years ago, when our creative young daughter wanted to learn to paint I signed her up for lessons with a local artist. I still remember her tips for success:

• Paint every day.
• Paint a lot.
• Don't throw anything away because you might be able to turn it into something else later.

A friend recently shared advice she'd learned from a professional fabric artist:

• Set aside some time every day to simply play at the sewing machine.
• No expectations. No judgement. Just sew.
• Choose a favorite piece of work and change it just a little. Then change it again.

Can you imagine applying these principles to your music practice?
Grow and stay fresh in your practice, no matter what that practice is.

Monday's Muse

No need to hurry. No need to sparkle. No need to be anybody but oneself. ~ Virginia Woolf