Tag: music
Sunday Suggestion
Host a Sunday Jam Session
Happening now: six teenagers in our dining room, jamming on violins, viola, and cellos. They love playing together so much, that they arrange to meet weekly…driving almost one hour one way to each other’s houses. Proactive and unpaid.
Here they are during a concert in July:
Who says kids these days are just on their phones?
Spirits
5,000 Hours
Malcolm Gladwell estimates it takes 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to be world class at a skill.
But a new study destroys that rule.
In any case, we’ve estimated that with regular practice, rehearsals, competitions and school orchestra, the girls have at least 5,000 of deliberate practice under their belt.
In nearly nine years of playing, the girls have not once said they want to quit. I attribute that to the fact that they only play violin – they do not do any other extracurriculars. The upsides of “being good” at something are: self-confidence, self-discipline and optimism!
13 Habits* (#8)
Think about death.
“Death doesn’t make life pointless but rather purposeful. ” In other words, live like you’re dying.
Quartets
Violin I normally carries the melody,
yet no member is “most important”
They communicate with eyes and breath
in perfect rhythm, spreading joy
To Suck or not to Suck – It Doesn’t Matter
I volunteered tonight at my daughter’s symphony chair auditions. My task was to walk the children of the cello section from rehearsal to a small private room with a judge and back to rehearsal, one at a time. These kids’ ages ranged from 12 to 14 and there were eight of them.
They were nervous.
Six of them told me they didn’t practice enough. One of them told me he would fail.
I urged them to breathe deeply and think positively. But they weren’t having it!
Their pessimism surprised me. These kids attend rehearsal once a week, most coming from other cities 30 minutes away or more. They take private lessons.
It goes to show that two important factors necessary for confidence in performance: preparation and positivity.
Still, watching young kids work so hard to make beautiful music together warms the heart!
I love my friend’s reaction to her son when his audition was over.
He walked out of his audition, stretched his arms out and shouted, “I sucked!”
She said, “Well, let’s go out for ice cream then.”
And they did.
