Darswords

Learn Faster, Perform Better: A Musician’s Guide to the Neuroscience of Practicing by Molly Gebrian
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I started this book a while back. I loved the aspect that it was written by a musician who minored in neuroscience.

Wait! Let me start over. When I was a kid, my mom would make me play a piece ten times. I never could keep track. She gave me ten buttons. Each play moved a button to the other side of the piano. Soon it wasn’t just a song but portions of songs. Trouble spots. The yelling from the kitchen for me to play it again, ten more times. I hated it. As soon as I could, I quit lessons. But by then I was a teen busy with a teen’s life.

So the first concept Molly Gebrian suggested took that even farther. Ten times perfectly.

I’ve been back to playing piano for about a year and a half. I started back by telling myself it had to be fun, or I’d get back to fiddling around with the recorder, Uke, or violin. They didn’t hold the psychological pull over me that piano had. I’ve ‘played’ up to forty minutes, even an hour, of FUN. Then I started reading this book. Yes, I had begun to work on bits, but I wanted to.

I put the book aside. But months later I decided it was the right concept. I may hate it, but I think Mom and Molly were right. But I will have to work up to it. It will still need to be fun. I’m a retired 76-year-old. Working hard is from the past.

The rest of the book had marvelous ideas I want to start to institute in my playing. In fact, I think much of it could be applied to other habits a person might want to develop in their life.

The version I have is Audible. Ms. Gebrian does her own narration. I plan to listen to this book often. There is so much I want to put into my piano fun.

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