Articles about master’

Aug 2, 2009

Alexander Markov Rocks Paganini

Posted by Thom in Videos No comments

Incredible! This was shared with me by one of my friends who happens to be studying guitar performance. I actually prefer some of his theme variations over than of Jascha Heifetz! I noticed his left hand pizzicato (2:54) especially was a very different take than what I had heard before, and apparently Wikipedia agrees:
“Markov was [...]


Dec 16, 2007

Practice Makes Perfect?

Posted by Thom in All, Mastery, Teaching 3 comments

We have all grown up hearing the familiar phrase, “Practice makes perfect!” There is the idea that the more you practice, the better you’ll get. But does it really end there, or is there something that your parents missed?
Practicing is really the process of creating a muscle memory, which is defined as “a phrase referring [...]


Dec 16, 2007

Keeping a Journal

Posted by Thom in All, Mastery, Teaching No comments

Several years ago I took an independent study class at my high school. Every day I had 90 minutes of practice time and had to prepare something for a recital at the end of the term. On the very first day of this particular class my orchestra director, always full of music wisdom, shared a great nugget with us.

“I always practiced, but I never really knew how to practice until I had gotten to college. Had I known and used this before- I could have excelled so much earlier and faster!” Not only did he tell us to keep a journal, but also how to keep a one in such a way that will really show us improvement. “Its important to structure and plan out your practice session in order to be the most productive with your time.”