There is a strange alchemy going on when one practices. Sometimes you cannot help but feel absolutely powerless.
But, and it needs to be highlighted, a veteran musician knows to keep his feelings out of the learning process. Easier said than done. We are, after all, being of emotions.
I confess that, confronted with the perspective of trying to climb a high mountain in the form of an incredibly difficult exercise and knowing that I will almost certainly fail is not a happy perspective for me. Some anger is bound to seep through.
So?
So, I think that I have been able to become a professional musician because of these humbling experiences. People often stop playing music because they are facing an impossible challenge. It could be that the exercise itself is too difficult but, more often than not, they quit because they cannot manage properly their own emotions when they practice. And that, I completely understand.
Controlling ones arms or fingers to work on a phrase or a technique is one thing, but keeping the rage and frustration in check at the same time can be above one’s strength. I confess that I have been guilty of stopping a practice session for those particular reasons. The reason why I’ve never given up is that I always thought that tomorrow was another day, deserving optimism and bright outlook. And so, I’m still at it forty years later.
