Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Practice does *not* make perfect

If you're a musician, you know the drill: practice is everything. Without practice, you're not a musician. Hours are spent trying to perfect techniques, and the only way to do that is through repetition.

Practicing is how a musician solidifies their memorization of a piece, finalizes musical nuances, captures the flavor of the notes, etc. etc.

However, just going through the motions isn't enough. Practicing something wrong does not lead to improvement. It only strengthens the habit of playing something wrong.

In order to improve, active listening is required... which is easier said than done. It's too easy to lose yourself in sound rather than analyzing what works best for the piece.

Practice does not make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.

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