|
Hey — your weekly Rx. No filler, I promise.
Words Worth Keeping
"We need very strong ears to hear ourselves judged frankly."
— Michel de Montaigne, dead 400 years and still right
The label's right there, facing the world. But what's inside the jar will never read a word of it.
This Week
I spent part of this week parked in my car, listening to excerpts clients sent in for feedback. That's a lot of my life lately — engine off in some parking lot, score in my lap, waiting for my kids to finish their violin and cello lessons. And every time, the same thing. I hear stuff the player can't — a rushed entrance, a note that's flat that they'd swear on their life is fine, a phrase that quietly dies two beats early. They're not bad players. They're just stuck inside it. When you're the one playing, your brain's juggling forty things at once. There's nothing left over to actually hear yourself.
Rather watch this than read it? Click here →
The Prescription
Here's the single most important thing I've got for you this week.
You can't hear your own playing. Not really. When you're playing, your brain's running forty things at once — the notes, the time, the pitch, the next entrance, the nerves. There's nothing left to judge what's actually coming out. So you miss things. Everybody does. I do too. Anybody who tells you different is lying or not listening.
That's the jam in the jar. You're the jam, stuck inside the glass. Bang on it, shake it, scream all day — you still can't read your own label. Sometimes somebody on the outside has to do it for you. Hey, that's flat. Hey, that entrance is late. Hey — strawberry, twelve ounces.
So go get that person. A teacher. A mentor. A practice buddy who'll tell you the truth instead of blowing smoke. Trade recordings every week. Send your excerpts to ears you trust. One honest outside listen beats another lonely hour in the room every single time — because the thing wrecking your audition is almost always the thing you can't hear yourself.
You can't read the label from inside the jar. Go find someone who can.
Happy practicing,
Chris @ Honesty Pill Coaching
Something land? Something miss? Hit reply. I read them.
|
