The Art of Practicing: A Guide to Making Music from the Heart | Madeline Bruser

The Art of Practicing: A Guide to Making Music from the Heart | Madeline Bruser | A wonderful insight into making music

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The Art of Practic...

	The Art of Practicing: A Guide to Making Music from the Heart Madeline Bruser Harmony/Bell Tower, 1999 - 288 pages average customer review:based on 24 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

This landmark book enlightens amateur and professional musicians about a way of practicing that transforms a sometimes frustrating, monotonous, and overly strenuous labor into an exhilarating and rewarding experience. Acclaimed pianist and teacher Madeline Bruser combines physiological and meditative principles to help musicians release physical and mental tension and unleash their innate musical talent. She offers practical techniques for cultivating free and natural movement, a keen enjoyment of sounds and sensations, a clear and relaxed mind, and an open heart and she explains how to

Prepare the body and mind to practice with ease
Understand the effect of posture on flexibility and expressiveness
Make efficient use of the hands and arms
Employ listening techniques to improve coordination
Increase the range of color and dynamics by using less effort
Cultivate rhythmic vitality
Perform with confidence, warmth, and freedom

Photographs show essential points of posture and movement for a variety of instruments.

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A valuable resource for all musicians

Madeline Bruser's compendium on her Art of Practicing seminars will prove valuable to all musicians who feel that the physical/mental stresses of life affect their playing. For a long time I suffered from a sore left wrist after a several hour practice session at the piano which was a result of built up tension and using inefficient motions. After correcting the height of my bench (to be higher) and studying Bruser's text (specifically the chapters on stretching/basic mechanics) I have begun to learn to play in a much more relaxed and efficient manner. Her book is inspiring and full of radiant ideas. I would recommend it to anyone who feels that their practicing has become stagnant or whose expression and speed is being held back by forceful and tense playing.

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A wonderful insight into making music

There are some incredibly useful insights into making music. Madeline Bruser suggests getting into a routine and following it daily. Much emphasis is on avoiding practice-related physical and mental injuries. For serious musicians, it eliminates much of the angst surrounding each practice session and brings back the joy that ultimately is the fundamental reason to play.

Another book to check out: Effortless Mastery: Liberating the Master Musician Within by Kenny Werner (an absolutely killer jazz pianist)

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Good Musicianship is in the practice room

This book is written to help you improve your ideas and mental outlook toward daily practice.. Ms. Bruser goes into the importance of technical correctness, including posture and movement, but she really inspires us to approach practice with a different attitude. I play the tuba as an amateur. After reading her book, I began to practice more, but I actually may spend less time playing notes. Musicianship implies technical expertise, but this book is really written to help you improve your artistic musicality and learn to make music with passion, intelligence and sensitivity. To do this, you must approach each practice much like a performance, or a master class with you as your own clinician. Practice is not just face time with your instrument..

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The Art of Practicing

Inspiring, readable book with wonderful advice for improving musical performance through physical, intellectual, and emotional exercises. Visualizations are simple and effective. I'm recommending it to all my serious piano students.

How to Practice

This book is a bit didactic in its approach, and it reads as if it's aimed mainly at musicians who play symphonic instruments (I play electric bass guitar). Nonetheless, it provides a number of tips to help make your practice regimen more efficient, less effortful, and more productive - including breathing and stretching exercises, and mental methods designed to help you approach practicing with a new and revitalized mindset.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

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