When practicing an instrument or writing music, it usually seems like the amount of time you have to put to improve at the skill in question is disproportionate to your improvement rate. You might have to write half a dozen bum pieces before you can use some little idea you had, you have to play a few Mozart sonatas before you're happy with the tone quality for any of them, etc., etc.... I'd be genuinely surprised if someone with creative inclinations has not had this kind of experience.
There always seems to be a well-demarcated line between frustration and ownership with me and these problems. Progress can be difficult to feel. One day you leave the practice room pulling your hair out, the next you come back and something's clicked. Taking time out to rationalize the situation can sometimes help you get your bearings, but nothing really substitutes for those long hours spent in the trenches. Those times may make you wonder why you even bother, but you know the answer when you get one of those little epiphanies.
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- Adam Baratz
- Boston, Massachusetts, United States
1 comment:
Is the effort put into musical practice (in the broadest sense) ‘disproportionate’ to the ‘improvement rate’? Yes, maybe—I’m not sure. Is the process addictive? That’s, for me, certain. Whatever crumbs that come the practitioner’s way, with experience, and with some strategizing, you can almost guarantee a micro-epiphany every once in a while.
Taking time out to rationalize the situation can sometimes help you get your bearings, but nothing really substitutes for those long hours spent in the trenches.
Well, yes, I know what you mean… but the flip side of that is that you won’t get very far, no matter how much time you spend, unless you have some, for lack of better word, tactical overview (something that took me a long time to understand even though my teachers had been drumming it out for years…).
S, tig
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