To study Music is to study the Self ~ Shunryu Suzuki
Posted in Conducting, Habits of Mind, Practice, Trombone on Feb 7th, 2011
When you have a strict practice that doesn’t ignore the weak points of your practice, then eventually you will have good practice. – Shunyru Suzuki, quoted in Crooked Cucumber by David Chadwick A friend of mine, Keith Hill, notes (as have others) that on one level who we are is the sum of how we […]
Posted in Practice on Dec 19th, 2010
A recurring theme this fall, for me and others: sooner or later many of us experience some degree of injury from the physical aspect of our work or training. I find it useful to think of this in terms of Being a Smart Athlete. In my case this applies to both my music and exercise habits. Some general observations:
1. Musicians are Athletes. Our bodies are our instruments, and we need to monitor and manage them as carefully as would an elite athlete.
Posted in Habits of Mind, Performance, Trombone on Nov 7th, 2010
There’s a lot of cross-talk in my life between music and sports, which I imagine is true for many musicians. The first Sunday in April is the first local road race of the season, the Rome Fort to Fort 10k run. This year I was excited for the new season, and even played some psych-up […]
Posted in Habits of Mind, Practice on Oct 28th, 2010
The inspiration for this blog is my favorite book, Shunyru Suzuki’s Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind. Every time I pick up the baton or the trombone there is the feeling of starting over again from scratch. Not completely, and not literally – but to some extent we are always beginning. There is, of course, a good […]