Passion For Practice Musings From Music Masters Illustrations Explained, Cont. Page 4
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17. Picture 14.0 Video Record Yourself. I don’t think this painting needs to be explained, but to be thorough - You may have annoying habits, that you don’t notice unless you see yourself as the audience would see you, thus I painted a crazy Picasso like musician.
Click on photo to purchase. Inquire about getting poster size.
18. Picture 15.0 Play Musically, Not Mechanically. When I sell this card and print at music education festivals like TMTA, this is a popular seller. In the painting, some of the students are wearing their hearts on their sleeves, and some on their heads. Fun emotional music expressions are in the background. The mechanical players are represented by all silver paint. Great representation for a middle school or high school band room. I can print this as a poster for a great gift for a band teacher.
19. Picture 16.0 Warp Tempo: Again, this painting is pretty obvious. The calm in the center in the rocking chair comes from practicing faster than required when it’s close to performance time. When you play at the required tempo, a little slower than required, it will seem easier.
20. Picture 17.0 Memorizing Music or Virtual Practice: I had fun with this painting. 3-D goggles are so popular these days. You can pretend you are in Carnegie Hall while practicing in your living room!
Just Do It! Take a break - then just get started again! Just Do It!
21. Picture 18.0 Just Do It! Breaks are important… OK. Here is a painting that needs explaining. But first, look up the musician Steven Isserlis, who’s rant is cited on this page. He is at least as famous as YoYo Ma, but he is British, so many USA people have not heard of him. And he is also a children’s music book author! That being said, I am a great fan of Jabberwocky - and here it shows. At first, I hid this painting because I was embarrassed about it. But when I pulled out the note card created from this painting at exhibitions like ASTA, people related to it and were purchasing it! Go figure. When I was painting this, I pretty much gave up on finding a rhyme or pun to go with playing the flute, so I got silly. I was thinking about the term, “practicing your axe”! “Axe” being a slang term meaning instrument. Axe, Saw, what’s the difference! I have surprisingly found that so many people don’t even know what the expressions practicing your axe or wood shedding mean. I learned from my junior high school conductor that the term became popular in the depression era when players of loud instruments were told to practice in the woodshed where they couldn’t be heard in the house. Shoo Bird is my own nonsense term. Flutes often play bird like music, and birds live in the trees. If you think that I’m ”on the spectrum”. The answer is Maybe. LOL.
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