My session got off to a good start today, but when it came time to let go of the practicing and play for pure pleasure, it seemed there was nothing I really wanted to do.<\/p>\n
I thought about the music I\u2019ve been playing recently, and also how much fun I\u2019ve been having improvising, and none of it seemed appealing. I was feeling a bit down, actually (post-vacation blues, perhaps), and the fact that I had no appetite for playing didn’t help.<\/p>\n
But . . . I\u2019ve been enjoying playing so much lately, I felt it was at least worth a try.<\/p>\n
So I picked up a book of baroque pieces I hadn\u2019t opened in a while, and began to play an old favorite. I got into it a bit, and felt a tad better. But there were parts of it that were technically tricky (though I had played them perfectly in the past) and I didn\u2019t feel like working to get them back.<\/p>\n
So I turned to a simpler piece. A sad, slow one that\u2019s really easy for me. Aah\u2014I began to feel more alive. Suddenly, I could focus all my attention on the pure sound of each note. I could play straight from the heart.<\/p>\n
After enjoying the rest of my session and then thinking about it later, it dawned on me why playing that little piece turned things around for me. It was as though I had found the perfect antidote for all my troubles:<\/p>\n
\u2022 My life felt difficult today, so I was playing something simple.
\n\u2022\u00a0I often spend my days in a frantic rush; the tempo of this piece was deliciously relaxed.
\n\u2022\u00a0I was feeling sad, and I found the perfect vehicle for expressing that.<\/p>\n
As to why I didn’t want to improvise, well, there\u2019s a god reason for that, too. My vacation\u2019s over, and suddenly I’m confronted, once again, with all sorts of decisions that have to be made\u2014about this website, my private students, my finances, and so forth.<\/p>\n
What a relief not to have to choose what notes to play! They were all right there on the page.<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s experience was a useful reminder. When I’m at the piano, my first impulse is usually to play whatever it was that gave me pleasure in my last session. Often that works\u2014but not always.<\/p>\n
And the more I trust what feels right to me in this<\/em> moment, the better off I am.<\/p>\n By the way, after surrendering completely to my desire this morning for music that was slow, sad, and easy, by the time my session was ending, I was reinvigorated and playing some pretty lively stuff!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" My session got off to a good start today, but when it came time to let go of the practicing and play for pure pleasure, it seemed there was nothing I really wanted to do. I thought about the music I\u2019ve been playing recently, and also how much fun I\u2019ve been having improvising, and none […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-big-twelve-piano-basics","category-uncategorized","category-you"],"yoast_head":"\n