First test drive of my new anvil fx with the Metropolitan Silver Band. Built by my neighbor Daniel, of Daniel's Scrap Metal & Garbage Removal fame here in Toronto. It was a big clangorous success. Thank you, Daniel. Should a musician play through pain? The short answer is no. In my personal experience years ago, it will lead to catastrophic consequences. So here I am, my right shoulder is a bit uncomfortable. Not sore or painful, just uncomfortable. Am I over practicing? Perhaps after all there are dangers to over practicing. However, in my 65th year, the dangers can be more serious than at 20. So, what I'm I doing?
1. I booked a physio appointment for early next week. 2. No extra practicing. I will have to run on the gas in the tank until my commitments are met. 3. No pushups or other activities that put pressure on the shoulder. 4. Follow the physio's advice. 5. Rest Nipping problems before they are chronic is the key to playing at this age. David Juggling practice is difficult when you play three instruments.
1. Piano practice is required for my job as a piano teacher. 2. Drumming is required because brass band music is difficult, and I want to keep the chair in the band. Furthermore, endurance takes time to build and repetition to maintain. To improve my skills, I take a weekly lesson and lesson preparation requires daily attention. 3. Mallets. I love playing the malletkat and xylophone. And it is a required skill, on occasion, in the brass band. How do I do it? 1. Piano practice maintains my skills to the level required to serve my students well. I'm not preparing for concerts or gigs anymore. Therefore, endurance is not required. 2. Drumming. I have a ritual I've been following for a few months. It starts with 20 minutes on hand warmups and chops building. I follow-up by reviewing a lesson from a drum kit book for 10 minutes. Then I tackle Brass band music. However, I only practice the tricky bits as there is no time for fooling around. With this I've covered chops, endurance, skill development, and being ready to contribute to the band. 3. I do a few minutes in the evening working out of a lesson book and slowly chip away. David 1. You will have more opportunities to play. If you can read the score, chances are you can play the music.
2. You don't have to try to remember everything. In my experience, ear players forget, over time, the nuances of the music they are recreating. For example, I used to play in a hobby classic rock band. Me and the bass player scored out our parts. For better or worse, we sounded the same every week. However, others in the band were always forgetting parts and therefore wasted our time sorting out what they should have known. 3. You will learn the music much faster. 4. You will have a deeper understanding of music than non-readers. It doesn't mean that you can't be a skillful player, but you will have to work harder. The geniuses who played great and didn't read, were geniuses. Perhaps you too are a genius, but I doubt it. 5. Readers can play with less stress because they don't have to rely on their memory so much. |
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