Gone
Extract:
Practice isn’t simply about the hours you put in. It’s about concentration. The great violinist Jascha Heifetz once said in an interview that if any professional violinist needs to practise more than a couple of hours a day, then they shouldn’t be one. That became a sort of mantra. Physical practice is mostly about muscle memory. Your fingers and muscles need to be able to provide a reliable vehicle for the music. So you practise, but long after you stop playing. It’s still reverberating at the back of your head. You’re always aware of those patterns forming. But the big thing to take away from practising is learning not to waste time.
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What is a child prodigy? Here’s another stab at it. It’s a means to another’s end. Oh, they wish you well, wish the very best for you, but there is a price to pay, and the price is you.