My wife got me a gift for Christmas that is probably not high on a list for most people in my age bracket: a pro-grade Yomega yo-yo. Specifically, it’s the Yomega Maverick, an aluminum yo-yo with a ball bearing hub. No doubt, some of you, like me, are marvelling that a “toy” of such quality and engineering even exists. I was somewhat surprised to learn that there are international yo-yo competitions, and although a niche, yo-yoing is still very much alive and well in certain circles. Take a look at the video below for an example of some of the skills required to compete in a yo-yo tournament. Excuse the soundtrack. (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘practice’
Lessons from a Yo-Yo: Doing the Impossible
Posted: January 4, 2013 in LessonsTags: practice, teaching, technique, yo-yo
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My dad visited this weekend and related a story to me from a friend of his that is a professional violinist. This violinist has played professionally for over 30 years. My father asked him to recommend a good classical violinist to see in concert. He named a few and explained why he recommended those particular musicians. Then the violinist reminded my dad about a time when he was watching him rehearse.
The violinist was doing a drill that looked mostly like a jumble of notes on the pages. When my father asked him why he was doing this drill, he explained that the drill helped train him to play three strings at the same time. After reminding my dad of this instance, he said, “I recommended that you go see this violinist because he’s the one that wrote that drill I was doing.”
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The proper response to mistakes
Posted: August 13, 2011 in Tongue-in-cheekTags: old folks, performance, piano, practice
I played an offertory in church a few weeks ago and butchered it, as far as I’m concerned. I did what I call “cramming” for preparation. It’s the same cramming that we all used to do for test prep: practicing really hard all at once just before the performance. I was having a hard time deciding what song to play, so I wasn’t able to really prepare until the Saturday before.
After I crashed my way through it, I felt a bit sheepish heading back to my seat in the auditorium. Fortunately, I always sit on the second row, so the walk of shame isn’t too long. This got me thinking about how to react when you’ve had a train wreck performance. Herein, for your reading pleasure, lie several methods that you may consider the next time you botch up a song. (more…)
Quality practice sessions for the church musician…HA, YEAH RIGHT!
Posted: February 24, 2011 in Tongue-in-cheekTags: music, piano, practice
After reading a post on Greg Howlett’s blog, I decided to test his theory. You can read his original article here. The general idea in his first few paragraphs is that church members should reserve judgement on church musicians for mistakes since they are almost always volunteer. This coupled with the fact that they may be sight-reading, unpracticed, and/or novices make a perfect recipe for error-filled music during a typical worship service. (more…)
