This is the fifth year of the PIANOVEMBER Practice Challenge! As I was thinking about what to share in this episode, I was thinking about practice and how we can motivate our children and students to put in the time and discipline to practice. There is a quote often attributed to Julie Andrews (who celebrated her 84th birthday on October 1st)
“Don’t practice until you get it right, practice until you can’t get it wrong.”
Listen to the full episode here
As I was researching that quote, I stumbled upon a book called, “Psychology for Musicians” written by Percy C. Buck, Professor at the Royal College of Music in London. I love the dedication page he wrote,
“Dedicated to the innumerable pupils who have passed through my classes at the Royal College of Music London in the hope of reconciliation now that the tyranny is overpast.”
The book was published in 1944 when Julie Andrews was barley 10 years old. She might have read the book or come across the quote at some point. As far as I can tell, she didn’t study at the Royal College of Music.
On page 102 of the book, Mr. Buck makes a few interesting points about practice, criticism, and success.
Practice
Here is the point Professor Buck makes,
“What is the real difference between a professional and an amateur? Does not your mind immediately turn to the shallow explanation of money-payments? Two definitions have been made which may help you think deeper than that:An amateur can be satisfied with knowing a fact; a professional must know the reason why.An amateur practices until he can do a thing right, a professional until he can’t do it wrong.”
It would be unreasonable to expect a young child to be so dedicated to a professional level of practice. I believe parents must protect their innocence as long as we can. That’s why a practice challenge is so much fun for kids. At this point the practice for mastery isn’t their goal but practice for an external prize or achievement can be. The mastery comes as a result of the repetitions.
Criticism
What is criticism?A man is a better critic of a thing than you are, if he can point out to you some beauty in it which you had missed.If you say you like or dislike a thing you are not criticizing. Criticism begins with the word ‘because.’
Max Lucado’s story about the golf caddy who found a weed on the Augusta golf course can be found on page 24 of his book, “Great Day Every Day.”
I find criticism is an issue with children who think they must aim for perfectionism. They tend to look only at the flows of their practice or performance.
What an interesting idea to teach them to think deeper than to simply look for flaws; we can teach them to become better critics, critics who can find the beauty that others miss.
What an interesting idea to teach them to think deeper than to simply look for flaws; we can teach them to become better critics, critics who can find the beauty that others miss.
Success
What do you mean by success?Success is the ratio between what you are and what you might have been.Success is not beating other people, it is beating yourself.
The man I mentioned in the podcast who was voted Most Likely to Succeed our junior year of high school is Chris Chambless, co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Ambit Energy.
While I am super proud of Chris and all his accomplishments, I cannot compare my life to his. I can only compare myself to what I might have been and to what I might one day become.
Final Thoughts
Last week I shared a YouTube channel my son Austin introduced to me.
Here is another wonderful video from Mike Boyd that shows our piano kids (and us) about the stages of learning along with techniques for working through that dip in learning when the honeymoon phase is over but we haven’t quite gotten to mastery. Watching Mike learn and work through the frustration of mastering a new skill has really encouraged me to keep pressing on.
I hope the PIANOVEMBER Practice Challenge will be an encouragement to all our piano kids to keep going, work through the difficulty, and never give up! To become better critics and to measure success against themselves and not how they think they measure up against other people.
Join the challenge here!
Join the challenge
A little friendly competition to make your piano practicing more exciting. Every piece you play, every time you play it. Goes from Nov. 1-30. Jump in anytime!
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