Exploring the Complete Scope of Possibilities on Your Instrument (the Marimba)
There are many titles that I could give this article and its accompanying articles. Just for fun, here are some more:
Taking Your Performance to the Next Level
Approaching Your Craft with a Multi-Dimensional Mindset
The Three P’s: Practice. Performance. Passion.
Strategies for an Effective Approach to Complete Mastery of the Instrument
etc.
Hopefully, that gives you a sense of where I’m headed here. I am not only passionate about playing the marimba, promoting the art form, collaborating within the art form, and elevating the art form, but, I’m also extremely passionate about inspiring young performers to achieve some of these ‘next-level’ concepts eluded to in the titles above.
To start, I would like you to consider these questions:
Do you get up every day and feel a fresh excitement for playing music?
Are you aware of the amount of work it takes?
Are you using your imagination to play music?
What are you working on and what is your plan of attack?
Are you taking chances and pushing yourself at each juncture?
The first question can really go in many directions. Do you feel a daily excitement, enthusiasm, or hunger to be productive within your craft and the business of it? Because let’s be honest, there is much, much more to playing music professionally than just making beautiful sounds. This is of course the most important aspect; Always make sure your craft is in order so you have something to promote, to be excited about, and to present at a masterful level when the time arrives. Performing music and experiencing the upward trajectory of improving our craft is likely the original reason we got into being a professional musician. At some point, administrative demands come into the picture for most people in a life-long creative career. This can be disconcerting at times and even cause you to question why you ever chose this career path. I want to encourage you to keep your eye on the original reason you were drawn to art-making, but also to try and find delight in learning the full business of what we do.
Which brings us to question #2. The workload can seem insurmountable at times. I say, just acknowledge it to yourself wholeheartedly with aplomb, and then get busy with creating art! Focus on one thing at a time and you’ll get there. Being a musician in this world is hard, but truly it is about the long game if you can hold on to that daily passion that gets you up every day.
Imagination. Be imaginative. It’s a performing art. At every juncture ask yourself if you are tapping into your imagination as you prepare new pieces, plan concerts, forge collaborations, and walk onto stage for a performance. As you practice notes and technique, be sure to practice being imaginative in real-time while playing through pieces.
And the fourth question; What are you working on and what is your plan of attack? This might seem obvious, but I’m mainly trying to get to the heart of the details that you should be aware of as you progress through the different stages of learning a new piece, improving a component of your technique, or layering on a new concept within your artistry.
The last question above I hope is self-explanatory. If you have a driving excitement each day to practice your craft, let it push you to take chances. The only way to grow and improve is to reach further than your comfort zone and recalibrate with new goals.
I love inspirational quotes, especially ones from artists of different disciplines. We can learn a lot from practitioners of a different craft by investigating ways to apply those creative musings to our practice. Here are some quotes that I hope will inspire you to greater heights.
Either the foot is pointed or it is not. ~ Martha Graham
Don’t let your technique and familiarity with the notes govern your musicality. ~ Matthew Coley
Technique will set you free. ~ Gerard Morris
I’m very mistrustful of tactile memory. I think it’s the first thing that goes. ~ Andre Watts
Every musician can benefit from using mental practice as a supplement to physical practice. ~ Malva Freymuth
If you are passionate you are going to do what you do all day long and you’re going to become the best at it. ~ Philippe Petit
All the mistakes you make are the core foundation of the tapestry of your virtuosity. ~ Molly Shanahan
That’s it for this master class. Check back for more motivational and instructional postings.
Please reach out if you’d like me to present a more in-depth class in person or virtually on the material you’ve read here or another topic, I’d love to hear from you.
Happy art-making and creative career learning!