I learned a poignant
lesson recently in my piano practice.
In preparing for Lights Will Guide You Home (for information about the concert, click here) I have learned a particularly challenging piece called the Pathetique Sonata, by Beethoven.
In preparing for Lights Will Guide You Home (for information about the concert, click here) I have learned a particularly challenging piece called the Pathetique Sonata, by Beethoven.
It’s fifteen
minutes of rapid and repetitive movements across the keyboard, and
let me tell you what, it may not be a full body workout but it sure
feels like it after an hour of practice! Those repetitive movements
may not involve weights or full range of motion, but they are more
than a match for the little muscles in the wrists and hands that move
my fingers. They tucker out quickly.
When I first began
playing this piece, I faced a perplexing problem. My hands would tire
after just a few minutes of playing! For a week I worried
significantly. Would I be able to do this piece any justice? Or would
I find myself in the middle of my concert too tensed up to continue
going? My perfectionism bared its teeth and smiled at the sharp glint
of its white fangs.
The answer to my problem came by watching famed pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim play the same piece on Youtube. What struck me as I watched was just how softly he played! He would compress each key just the amount necessary to achieve the level of volume he wanted. I also noticed how accurate and relaxed his playing was.
In comparison, I realized how LOUD my own playing was. Crash! Like a giant husky dog into a pile of bottles after a tasty bone. Just about as accurate too!
So I adjusted. To my surprise, even though I felt almost shamefully lazy as I relaxed my way through it (hard work isn’t supposed to feel lazy, right? Righhhht??) I not only played more accurately, my hands wouldn’t tire as quickly, enabling me to finish the piece.
I took a video to illustrate:
The answer to my problem came by watching famed pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim play the same piece on Youtube. What struck me as I watched was just how softly he played! He would compress each key just the amount necessary to achieve the level of volume he wanted. I also noticed how accurate and relaxed his playing was.
In comparison, I realized how LOUD my own playing was. Crash! Like a giant husky dog into a pile of bottles after a tasty bone. Just about as accurate too!
So I adjusted. To my surprise, even though I felt almost shamefully lazy as I relaxed my way through it (hard work isn’t supposed to feel lazy, right? Righhhht??) I not only played more accurately, my hands wouldn’t tire as quickly, enabling me to finish the piece.
I took a video to illustrate:
What I find best is how
my insight applies in a practical way to broader life. We Americans are
good at stressing ourselves out in the face of seemingly simple things.
I am no
exception to this. I tend to belabor all the small
points as much as I do big ones. Things like cooking for myself, washing
dishes,
exercising, planning and goal setting are multi-step tasks with many
facets. It's my habit to emphasize each little facet equally. No wonder
they feel
like a weight that collectively tenses my body. No wonder I
procrastinate the abovementioned tasks, and many more!
I'm learning that we must learn how to do hard things gently. Life is hard enough without squeezing the joy and energy out of it through anxiety and worry! And yet, I do it all the time. I double my stress through ego, pride, and perfectionism. I double my stress through unconscious expectations that weigh down every step of our efforts like rocks in a backpack.
I don't have to do it this way!
WE don't have to do it this way!
Rather than belaboring each little point, there are better ways to be effective in doing difficult things. From my practice I learned the following:
I'm learning that we must learn how to do hard things gently. Life is hard enough without squeezing the joy and energy out of it through anxiety and worry! And yet, I do it all the time. I double my stress through ego, pride, and perfectionism. I double my stress through unconscious expectations that weigh down every step of our efforts like rocks in a backpack.
I don't have to do it this way!
WE don't have to do it this way!
Rather than belaboring each little point, there are better ways to be effective in doing difficult things. From my practice I learned the following:
1) Through emphasis
we govern energy. Part of what tired my hands out so quick
was that I unconsciously emphasized every single note the exact same
way. IT! WOULD! BE! LIKE! SPEAKING! LIKE! THIS!
ALL! DAY! LONG!
So instead, I began
emphasizing certain notes, and playing the
necessary-but-not-emphasized notes softly. This increased the beauty
of my music because it allowed the song to flow through the points of
natural importance, rather than EVERY! NOTE! HAVING! THE! EXACT!
SAME! MEANING! And I could also distribute my hands' limited capacity for stress more meaningfully.
2) I began playing
the whole piece softer. RATHER! THAN! EVERY! NOTE! BEING! LOUD! OR!
LOUDERRRRRR! I played it with
some notes being given
their appropriate emphasis, and most much less so. That way, when the VERY loud
textures happen (and they
do!) My hands have the energy to render the volume appropriately. Best of all, since
I’m not saturating your ears by
overloading them, the listener can
notice and appreciate the difference.
Remember
ladies and
gents! Do hard things gently. Got a big task to tackle? Got a new
skill to learn? Find the most important points and give them most of
your energy. The rest will flow on their own, and you with it.
You are worth whatever it is you set your mind to accomplish. You are
worth getting rid of the habits that prevent you. Have the compassion on
yourself. Give yourself permission to deemphasize or drop the things
that matter little, so the things that matter most receive the best of
your attention and energy.
Isn’t it so much easier to do it that way?
Isn’t it so much easier to do it that way?
