There’s so much stress in our lives lately! And as musicians, practicing our instrument can be part of that stress.
We struggle to master a hard passage. We worry about being ready for the next concert or audition. We fall into feeling inadequate to meet the complex demands of doing justice to the music we love.
Yet we need to let go of all that stress and relax, so we can spread joy and beauty to our often stressed out audience!
Sometimes it’s really hard to do that.
The single thing that helps me the most when things in my life are tough is slowing down and being gentle toward myself.
So the other day I turned to my memories of our last trip to Italy to nourish my spirit. I looked at pictures of the gorgeous Tuscan landscape and immediately found relief. We had traveled to the Val d’Orcia, and it was the most beautiful place I’d ever seen. Life is slower there, and it had a profound effect on me.
And I remembered a sign we often saw on the winding, hilly roads there: “Rallentare”– which, as most musicians know, means “Slow Down.” You really had to slow down to negotiate those roads.
But it also allowed me time to enjoy the incredible scenery.
And I thought, if only we could slow down all the time – if only we could appreciate our lives, including the people and the music we love, as much as the Tuscan people have appreciated their lives in the country and cultivated the land with such care. Isn’t this the real answer to happiness?
Yes. It is.
I thought about how falling in love with the Val d’Orcia is like falling in love with a piece of music. You want to spend a lot of time with it, and to never let go of all that beauty.
And yet we do let go of the beauty – countless times, when we get frustrated or impatient in our daily practicing. We often try to bend the music we love in a direction it doesn’t want to go in. Or we gloss over details, dimming the radiance of all that beauty.
We tune out.
Your Golden Opportunity
I invite you to discover how much beauty you can create in music by slowing down with us at the Transformative Piano Master Class Series, beginning June 21.
Like the Val d’Orcia, no pictures or descriptions can really prepare you for how amazing the experience is. But through the mindfulness practices, group conversations, and master class sessions, your mind will unwind and you’ll hear music and your own heart so vividly, entering a whole new world of appreciation..
This six-week series will provide an extraordinary combination of essential ingredients for your success:
Expert Guidance on cutting edge body mechanics, powerful listening techniques, and all the other far-reaching elements of my proven, breakthrough approach, the Art of Practicing, will provide you with unexpected solutions to technical and musical problems.
Instruction and Practice in Three Mindfulness Techniques will help you cut through distraction, anxiety, and emotional blocks to self-expression.
Group Support in weekly discussions at every class with the other, like-minded participants, as well as in a private Facebook group, will encourage you to explore new ideas and to relax with performance anxiety.
And all of it comes at an unbelievably discounted price, thanks to the generous support of the Art of Practicing Institute!
I warmly invite you to bring your playing to a whole new level, so you can shine like never before in your next special moment with your audience.
The deadline to apply is June 10, and applications are coming in quickly. So click here for more info and to apply for the 2022 Transformative Piano Master Class Series.
If you prefer to prepare on your own, that’s fine.
But imagine what might be possible for you with the right guidance and support.
Click here to apply for the 2022 Transformative Piano Master Class Series.
Have questions? Feel free to ask them!
I’d love to see you there!
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