Struggling to Practice Consistently Practicing music is so interesting to me. It’s something that I’ve done for over 30 years, yet it remains one of the single most challenging things for me to get off my duff and actually do. For me, the biggest challenges have been...
I’m coming up on one year of consistently practicing both my musical instrument and Spanish on a daily basis. Like so many people, I took a couple years of Spanish back in high school, but I’ve basically forgotten all of it. Perhaps unlike so many people, I have...
For a lot of people, the image of a talented virtuoso conjures up images of pianist in a concert hall, or an expert violinist. However, the double bass is a beautiful and necessary instrument that forms the backbone of any serious orchestra; and a number of emerging...
Modacity has also set up a special page for readers of the blog to get a discount on a lifetime subscription to their app (a very good deal!). You can check it out here and support both Modacity and the blog. I’ve been a fan of incorporating digital tools into my...
We put out a recent podcast episode focusing on how various musicians learn a piece. Berlin Philharmonic principal bassist Matthew McDonald also contributed thoughts on how he approaches learning a piece. Here’s how he does it: Matthew McDonald: First...
