The Art of Practicing: A Guide To Making Music from the Heart

This landmark book enlights 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 phisical 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 expresiveness
-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.

CONTENIDO

-Foreword, by Yehudi Menuhin
-Introduction
Part I. The Starting Point
1. Meeting Yourself
2. Struggle and Freedom
Part II. A Ten-Step Approach
3. Stretching
4. Settling In
5. Tuning into Your Heart
6. Basic Mechanics
7. The Spark of Inquisitiveness
8. Three Styles of Struggle
9. Simplicity
10. Pure Perception
11. Spontaneous Insight
12. The Dancing Body
Part III: Natural Command
13. Playing by Heart
14. Generosity
-Epilogue
-Notes
-Recommended Reading
-Resources for Musicians