Listening, listening, more listening all the time. Currently insects singing outside over the dehumidified drone in the basement. Tonight I began transcribing the lesson I had with Tony Geballe last week addressing my right hand in Dancin' Free. As always Tony had good insight into my playing and gave me an approach for the piece and that will improve my right hand in general. Found a comfortable place to work with these exercises on the metronome and enjoyed the practice.
I have always enjoyed working on exercises, looking at technique, the subtle use of my hands. At one point I was told I was spending too much of my practice time on exercises and needed to spend more time with music. A balanced approach to my instrument. These days the emphasis is more on music, but when the music needs assistance out come the exercises. And as I said tonight I really enjoyed them. I am aiming for an evenness of sound and rhythm as I play these arpeggios in triplets at the beginning of this piece. To not rush the rests nor cut the note values of any of the notes.
Recently I have been at three outstanding musical performances. The first was Todd Rundgren performing the entire album of his epic work A Wizard, A True Star. Last Thursday I heard the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra perform Bela Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra and then this past Sunday The Fry Street Quartet performed Bartok's First String Quartet. All of these performances were powerful and the music played with great passion and I was transported. My wish is that I may reliably play with power and passion. With an evenness in my approach coupled with my passion for music and the discipline to work and develop my skills - all is possible.
Ahh, listening is such an important part of growing as a musician. You do it well and with such a variety of music.
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