Recently, I discovered a wonderful blog by Jeffrey Agrell and Evan Mazunik on improvisation. They recently posted an equally great quote by podcast interviewee Stephen Nachmanovitch which I think bears repeating:
“You don’t have to practice boring exercises, but you have to practice something. If you find the practice boring, you don’t run away from it, but don’t tolerate it either. Transform it into something that suits you. If you are bored playing a scale, play the same eight tones but change the order. Then change the rhythm. Then change the tone color. Presto, you have just improvised. If you don’t think the result is very good, you have the power to change it- now there is both a supply of raw material and some judgment to feed back the process. This is especially effective with classically trained musicians who think they can’t play without a score or develop technique without exact repetition of some exercises in a book.” –Stephen Nachmanovitch, Free Play
This quote got me thinking for several reasons. One is the electrifying power of making up your own stuff, also known as improvisation. My 4-9 year old violin students beg to do this in their lessons (and we do). It is so great to be the boss of what your music should sound like, since in Western music we so often glamorize imitating someone else’s sound and composition.
The second reason is central to making real changes in both learning and healing from an injury:
Thinking in a new way.
It’s such a small, courageous step that makes ALL the difference.
The same old approaches to how you learn or how you treat your body aren’t working. Or, maybe, they’re working fine. Not great, not as fantastic as you could imagine, but… fine.
What could happen if you tried something new?
This year I’m trying new things at Harmonious Bodies, being brave to turn more towards teaching where I feel the real changes lie – though don’t worry, I’ll still be offering physical therapy sessions for the foreseeable future! I’m trying new methods in my violin teaching and new ways of practicing in my own musical growth. It feels good so far, like repotting a plant that got too big for its container.
What new ways of thinking are you trying out this year?
