RadioLab podcast on Beethoven's metronome

Really enjoyed this RadioLab.






Typical rehearsal arguments about tempo ("too fast/too slow") are usually based on an assumption about what the music should convey. When we have clear (metronome) indications from the composer, perhaps we should rather ask what the tempo he or she gives would convey and give thought to whether, perhaps that is in fact what was meant to be conveyed, even if this is not what we are accustomed to or had previously felt.

Rather than figuring out how to make the music answer our own questions, we can ask if the music as written is already the correct answer to some other question.

Deliberate Practice Described

The term "deliberate practice"  (or variants including "deep practice") is all over. Below is one of the better descriptions I've found of it. It comes from this post on a blog called Study Hacks, written by a computer scientist on the broad subject of what patterns lead to success. Plenty of good, thought-provoking stuff there if you are interested.

Traits of Deliberate Practice:

It’s designed to improve performance. “The essence of deliberate practice is continually stretching an individual just beyond his or her current abilities. That may sound obvious, but most of us don’t do it in the activities we think of as practice.”

It’s repeated a lot. “High repetition is the most important difference between deliberate practice of a task and performing the task for real, when it counts.”

Feedback on results is continuously available. “You may think that your rehearsal of a job interview was flawless, but your opinion isn’t what counts.”

It’s highly demanding mentally. “Deliberate practice is above all an effort of focus and concentration. That is what makes it ‘deliberate,’ as distinct from the mindless playing of scales or hitting of tennis balls that most people engage in.”

It’s hard. “Doing things we know how to do well is enjoyable, and that’s exactly the opposite of what deliberate practice demands.”

It requires (good) goals. “The best performers set goals that are not about the outcome but rather about the process of reaching the outcome.”

Atlantic article on pinky fingers

For what it's worth, here is the article: 

Study: Violinists' Fates Resides in Their Left Pinky Fingers

For what it's worth, my response:

I strongly suspect that this ability to move fingers independently is something that can be developed rather than something that is fixed, and that perhaps it would be useful for a teacher to find little exercises to build this kind of coordination in any student.

Inattentional Deafness?

I heard this story on NPR the other morning. It's about some really fun studies on something called "inattentional blindness" which occurs when you are really focused on something challenging. During this state, it is very easy to miss even really obvious things that are going on but are not part of what you are paying attention to. The NPR story discusses a study in which radiologists (highly trained  and practiced at finding cancer in scans) do not see a picture of a gorilla waving at them from within a scan because they are looking for hard-to-find signs of cancer.

Many musicians will be familiar with the feeling disbelief one sometimes experiences when listening to recordings of oneself. "How did I not hear that?!!" 

NY Times article on royalties for streaming music

link

Classical musicians don't really do recording as a way to make money directly these days. Recording is a way to increase one's prestige, perhaps, and to reach different audiences; As such, there is an indirect impact on one's income over time, but the recordings themselves really are not making the artist any money.

What are you screaming?

I like this. It's a jazz pianist giving a talk to some students. He discusses some really important ideas about playing music. The basic one is that "all music is played by ear" and that what we must work on is how well we hear. We should develop the vividness of what we hear inside. 

When you imagine a phrase, how vivid is the articulation or the color of the sound, or the direction of the line, etc.? If you are screaming it inside, to the point that it must come out, you are ready to play it.

Early Training in Music Affects Brain Development

New Scientist article. 

Study linking music and emotion

Here is a brief LA Times article about a study by neuroscientists showing how perception of emotional states in others is strongly linked to musical elements, particularly pitch. The questions of how, when and why music developed relative to language in our evolution is one that is far from settled, and is one I am fascinated by as a music educator thinking about the role of music in society.
Here is the final line of the article: "The findings, the authors write, "lend support to early speculations by Darwin, elaborated upon by several contemporary theorists, that emotional communication is a fundamental link between these domains [music and language] and reflects their common evolutionary origin."

Top 10 skills children learn from the arts

Washington Post article: 

Top 10 skills children learn from the arts

Education Post: How Finland Did It

Not on music, but still...

Forty years ago Finland revamped their education system. These days they top every list comparing outcomes. Here's how they did it. (really short article)

Link

Passion Grows With Skill

Parents often encourage their kids to "follow their passions." This seemingly good (or at least innocent) advice turns out to have some problems. Certainly for some, it works well. If you are lucky enough to have a clear passion early on, and are supported in pursuing it, lucky you! Most, however, don't have such a driving passion early on, and as they are exposed to and pursue various interests, these pursuits inevitably become difficult at some point, leading to frustration, and some thought like "perhaps I'm not really meant to do this."


Below is an excellent article advocating for a different mindset. One in which we should allow passion to grow alongside skills. That as we overcome obstacles and acquire competence, passion tends to follow, usually connected with feelings of accomplishment and rooted in an earned self-esteem.

My thoughts in reading the article, of course, went to parents and young music students. I've been aware for a long time that this is, in fact, the real pattern. That students that somehow do enough work to build the skills of music-making are the ones who reap the many benefits, including in some cases a growing passion to make it central to their lives for ever.

Piece of Cake!

Anyone who has practiced anything is familiar with the problem. One day you work on some spots and get them right; the next day, when you come back it feels as if you have to start all over. Sometimes this cycle seems to go on and on. If this is all too familiar to you, try this strategy. Your solution may just be a piece of cake! (chocolate for me, please)

CelloBello Masterclasses

just promoting some sure-to-be wonderful cello masterclasses that will be live streamed from the New England Conservatory. see this link.

all classes are 2-5 Eastern Standard Time and available through CelloBello.com

October 17
Paul Katz

January 23
Natasha Brofsky

February 6
Yeesun Kim

March 27
Laurence Lesser

Dana Gioia advocating for better arts education

Dana Gioia's 2007 Commencement address at Stanford University has been reprinted in several places and versions. The version below was in the Wall Street Journal (link).

Key point for me:

"The purpose of arts education is not to produce more artists, though that is a byproduct. The real purpose of arts education is to create complete human beings capable of leading successful and productive lives in a free society."

Early Music Lessons Have Longtime Benefits By PERRI KLASS, M.D.

Early Music Lessons Have Longtime Benefits

By PERRI KLASS, M.D.