Music practice quotes:

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Mistakes are . . . immensely useful. . . they show us . . . where we are right now and what we need to do next -- William Westney
The most valuable practice aid is patience. -- Howard Snell
If practice makes perfect, and no one's perfect, then why practice? -- Billy Corgan
There will never come a time when you don't have to practice -- J. J. Johnson
Robotic correctness is the last thing judges want to see or hear -- William Westney
If we're not actively making things better, chances are we're making them worse. -- William Westney
Failing to remember is the primary reason for most performers' poor practising habits. -- Howard Snell
I practice and work hard at my music, but I'm not saving lives here. -- Harry Connick, Jr.
Good listening is always the first step in the process that creates technique and capability -- Howard Snell
The underlying aim of practice . .is to create certainty through the development of high-quality listening. -- Howard Snell
If you have fun when you practice, you may also learn more and perform better -- Barry Green
If you have played "six times wrong, one time right" the problem is not quite corrected. -- William Westney
Sound is not simply what we hear or play, but equally a feeling in the body -- Howard Snell
I'm practicing the oboe. But I don't play. Just single notes, not an entire piece of music. -- Lola Kirke
Much music teaching seems more concerned with controlling the student than with encouraging the student's own impulses. -- William Westney
Don't attribute mishaps to a lapse in concentration - if you missed the note you don't know it. -- William Westney
Music is not the only reason that I practice Buddhism anymore because it has affected my whole life. -- Herbie Hancock
. . when the initial excitement of playing starts to evaporate, good habits are needed to sustain the learning process. -- Howard Snell
When I was a kid, I was more interested in beating up boys on the playground than practicing music. -- Ellen Hollman
What I have achieved by industry and practice, anyone else with tolerable natural gift and ability can also achieve. -- Johann Sebastian Bach
The most efficient way to memorise a piece is to use the one which proceeds in an error free manner -- Sergei Rachmaninoff
[perfectionism leads to] a tendency to apologize preemptively for one's efforts, knowing from experience that there's sure to be something wrong with them. -- William Westney
As soon as effective listening takes place, the ear identifies what needs to be done and guides the techniques search for a solution -- Howard Snell
If you sound great in the practice room, you're practicing the wrong thing. Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. -- Berthold Auerbach
There is something comforting about going into a practice room, putting your sheet music on a stand and playing Bach over and over again. -- Andrew Bird
I grew up with classical music blasting in my parents' living room and my older brother's practicing saxophone in his room listening to jazz... a beautiful chaos. -- Josephine de La Baume
Mastering music is more than learning technical skills. Practicing is about quality, not quantity. Some days I practice for hours; other days it will be just a few minutes. -- Yo-Yo Ma
There is no singular 'reason' why Africans use fractals, any more than a singular reason why Americans like rock music. Such enormous cultural practices just cover too much social terrain. -- Ron Eglash
Those who have virtue always in their mouths, and neglect it in practice, are like a harp, which emits a sound pleasing to others, while itself is insensible of the music. -- Diogenes
All he wants to do is practice and that's all he does, all day long. That's what it takes if you want to change the face of music. You've gotta be committed to it. -- Jimmy Chamberlin
That's my fun time so, to me, doing my homework, studying on what I do, watching the movies, listening to music, all that inspires me so I focus a lot on that and practice. -- Christina Milian
It is the height of professionalism to be able to make an ordinary piece of music sound good. When playing routine melodic studies the player must treat them as if they are musical value. -- Howard Snell
Hip-hop has survived as a sonic practice more than anything else. It's an approach to music-making based in sampling and rhyming over beats, that's proven far more versatile than its detractors thought it would. -- Ann Powers
There used to be a lot of industry in Montreal, and now there's not, so it's really easy to get huge, empty spaces where you can practice and make music or make art for very, very cheap. -- Grimes
If you want money, buy lottery tickets. If you love music, practice and keep your overhead to the bare minimum. Keep your promises, who you are is more important than what licks you know to any band leader. -- Steve Morse
Music rhythms are mathematical patterns. When you hear a song and your body starts moving with it, your body is doing math. The kids in their parents' garage practicing to be a band may not realize it, but they're also practicing math. -- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
There is a direct parallel in the way that we speak, with natural variations of pitch and volume that give full meaning to our words. This is what is missing in the words on the page of a book, and the notes on the score. -- Howard Snell
The reason so many of us lose our bearings about practising early in life is that we practice in living rooms with other family members in earshot - and healthy practice would simply sound too obnoxious, intrusive, repetitious and unmusical for others to hear without annoyance. -- William Westney
What I try to impart to a musician is to really try to practice the instrument in a really sincere way. Learn as much about music as you possibly can. Learn composition. Study to try to create compositions of your own and put your own personal touch on your music. -- Roscoe Mitchell
Wine is similar to music in that it's a purely experiential realm, and it's a purely subjective practice. That's sort of the funny thing about wine criticism or, for that matter, music criticism. At times, those are useful guides, but ultimately it's all about how you react to that music or wine. -- Mike D
If you're a new artist, practice your art and share it. Set up shop somewhere, whether it's a street corner or a coffee shop. I got my start in a coffee shop that didn't even have live music. I wanted to play in coffee shops that did have live music, but I didn't have an audience. -- Jason Mraz
There's very little to be said for learning a piece note by note, reading the rhythmic markings, practising the fingerings and following your instructor's suggestions, if you haven't any idea how the music will eventually sound and feel. If you learn a piece mechanically, you may have to 'unlearn' it before you can play it with expression and feeling. -- Barry Green
I particularly enjoy cello music because our daughter plays the cello. I have listened to her practice for so many hours that I am familiar with the music written for that instrument. I am also fond of the popular music of the 1930s because my future husband and I danced to it so many Saturday nights when we were in college. -- Beverly Cleary
I've done a lot of performance practice, Baroque playing, and some of the joy and the challenge of it is figuring out what the composer intended... You have music of the 17th century - it's all whole notes and half notes. But inside of that, there are so many things that one can do, at least according to what we know about performance practice. -- Caroline Shaw
We met because Chad was in one of my classes, and I was looking for someone to write music with. I knew that he wrote his own music, and he seemed nice, so I found out he was going to be in a practice room, practicing his trumpet. He'd already said he was too busy to hang out or hear any new people or work on any music, so I stalked him. -- Ian Axel
. .the most crucial ingredient by far for success in music is . . .what happens in the practice room. -- William Westney
The conception, composition, practice, and performance of a piece of music can blossom in a single moment. -- Stephen Nachmanovitch
Let no one imagine that in owning a recording he has the music. The very practice of music is a celebration that we own nothing. -- John Cage
I learned the cello , but I would still need a massive amount of practice. But I do play classical music, so I understand where that comes from. -- Alicia Keys

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