{"id":198431,"date":"2021-09-07T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-07T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/?p=198431"},"modified":"2021-09-06T02:08:49","modified_gmt":"2021-09-06T09:08:49","slug":"tq-desmond-tutu-go-upstream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/tq-desmond-tutu-go-upstream\/","title":{"rendered":"Desmond Tutu on Getting to the Root of the Musical Issue"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Tuesday Quotes are short explorations of music, life, and the daily endeavor of practicing classical guitar.\u00a0Find more here<\/a>. Enjoy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they\u2019re falling in.\u201d<\/em><\/p>

Bishop Desmond Tutu<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

As humans we have the knack of continuing to do what doesn\u2019t work. Not that other creatures are immune to this. But we consider ourselves thinkers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In music, we can spend years playing the same mistakes. We can face the same frustrations and never remove them. We may even be aware, yet still doggedly bang ourselves against them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is likely because the work of digging deeper<\/a> feels like more trouble than to look the other way. It\u2019s easier to tell ourselves that we\u2019ll mend those cracks later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But later never comes. And the cracks in our playing compound<\/a> and create problems of their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So then we try to treat the symptoms. But the root causes remain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beautiful playing comes down to two things. First, how well our hands do what they are told<\/a>. This is physical control. And second, how well we instruct them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best musical ideas will fall flat if our hands cannot complete the mission. And the fastest, cleanest player will sound drab without mature musical understanding<\/a>. It takes both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But we must start with our hands. And if our hands are inconsistent and unreliable, we need to go back to basics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To play classical guitar music well, we need trustworthy habits of movement<\/a>. And these are trained one day at a time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We need steady practice ingraining the fundamental movements. And this allows us to put our minds on higher musical concepts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we advance, we may feel reluctant to go back to basics. But basics are the master\u2019s sharpest tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best in any field return again and again to first principles and work on the fundamentals. This is where positive change happens<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In guitar practice, it is best to slow down and pay closer attention. The more attention we pay, the more value we get from the practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We learn more by playing fewer notes with greater awareness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even if we don\u2019t know the best solution or technique, awareness will bring us closer. It will allow us to experiment. We will ask better questions and burrow deeper for the answers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Small frustrations and persistent challenges<\/a>\u00a0are excellent fodder for meaningful practice. Like ripe fruit, ready to harvest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tuesday Quotes are short explorations of music, life, and the daily endeavor of practicing classical guitar.\u00a0Find more here. Enjoy! \u201cThere comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they\u2019re falling in.\u201d Bishop Desmond Tutu As humans we have the knack of continuing to do … <\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":252,"featured_media":198432,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[328],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-198431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tuesday-quotes"],"yoast_head":"\nDesmond Tutu on Getting to the Root of the Musical Issue<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Desmond Tutu on Getting to the Root of the Musical Issue\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tuesday Quotes are short explorations of music, life, and the daily endeavor of practicing classical guitar.\u00a0Find more here. Enjoy! \u201cThere comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. 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