{"id":61682,"date":"2019-10-22T04:00:28","date_gmt":"2019-10-22T11:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/?p=61682"},"modified":"2020-10-22T03:24:40","modified_gmt":"2020-10-22T10:24:40","slug":"tq-george-santayana-fanaticism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/tq-george-santayana-fanaticism\/","title":{"rendered":"George Santayana on Musical Fanaticism and Losing Our Way"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

\u201cFanaticism consists in redoubling your efforts when you have forgotten your aim.\u201d<\/em><\/p> George Santayana<\/em> <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The word \u201cfanaticism\u201d often conjures images of fringe political or religious groups. But with this simple definition, George Santayana allows us to look closer to home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Often in our guitar practice, we play scales<\/a>. We drill exercises, chords<\/a>, right-hand patterns<\/a> and more. We may do this to train our \u201ctechnique\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And we also learn<\/a> and practice pieces of music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in both our technique and repertoire practice, there are larger aims. But we may forget them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The aim of scales, for instance, is not to play scales. The purpose of scales is to synchronize the two hands. It\u2019s to connect notes smoothly. It\u2019s to play with consistent tone and controlled volume. Scales are a vehicle we use to gain these abilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And when we began guitar, we likely wanted to play beautiful pieces of music<\/a>. We wanted certain experiences and revelations. The goal was probably not to simply check the box on one piece and move to the next, over and over. (Most graded book series and programs encourage this mindless approach.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hours of scales each day will yield lackluster results if we don\u2019t direct our work towards desired outcomes. And yes, playing the notes of a piece is a worthy goal in the beginning stages. But it is only a first step to playing with musical maturity and insight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we grow, we can discover new possibilities<\/a>. We can refine and redefine our conceptions of what is possible for our music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we forget our aims, yet redouble our efforts, we trigger Santayana\u2019s definition of fanaticism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To stay engaged and move toward our goals, it helps to revisit them. Before the scales, we can state our objectives. Before practicing a piece of music, we can state our ultimate aims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This way, our practice today can move us forward – calibrated and guided by our larger visions for the future.<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tuesday Quotes are short explorations of music, life, and the daily endeavor of practicing classical guitar. Enjoy! \u201cFanaticism consists in redoubling your efforts when you have forgotten your aim.\u201d George Santayana The word \u201cfanaticism\u201d often conjures images of fringe political or religious groups. But with this simple definition, George Santayana allows us to look closer to home. Often in our … <\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2973,"featured_media":61683,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[328],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tuesday-quotes"],"yoast_head":"\nGeorge Santayana on Musical Fanaticism and Losing Our Way<\/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=\"George Santayana on Musical Fanaticism and Losing Our Way\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tuesday Quotes are short explorations of music, life, and the daily endeavor of practicing classical guitar. Enjoy! \u201cFanaticism consists in redoubling your efforts when you have forgotten your aim.\u201d George Santayana The word \u201cfanaticism\u201d often conjures images of fringe political or religious groups. But with this simple definition, George Santayana allows us to look closer to home. Often in our ... Read More\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/tq-george-santayana-fanaticism\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Classical Guitar Shed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ClassicalGuitarShed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-10-22T11:00:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-10-22T10:24:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/George-Santayana-fanatic-practice.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"320\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Allen Mathews\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@CLguitarshed\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@CLguitarshed\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Allen Mathews\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"George Santayana on Musical Fanaticism and Losing Our Way","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"George Santayana on Musical Fanaticism and Losing Our Way","og_description":"Tuesday Quotes are short explorations of music, life, and the daily endeavor of practicing classical guitar. Enjoy! \u201cFanaticism consists in redoubling your efforts when you have forgotten your aim.\u201d George Santayana The word \u201cfanaticism\u201d often conjures images of fringe political or religious groups. But with this simple definition, George Santayana allows us to look closer to home. Often in our ... Read More","og_url":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/tq-george-santayana-fanaticism\/","og_site_name":"Classical Guitar Shed","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ClassicalGuitarShed\/","article_published_time":"2019-10-22T11:00:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-10-22T10:24:40+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":320,"url":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/George-Santayana-fanatic-practice.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Allen Mathews","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@CLguitarshed","twitter_site":"@CLguitarshed","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Allen Mathews","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/tq-george-santayana-fanaticism\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/tq-george-santayana-fanaticism\/"},"author":{"name":"Allen Mathews","@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/#\/schema\/person\/435f2f8d2618df3c54e630e55ba86fc6"},"headline":"George Santayana on Musical Fanaticism and Losing Our Way","datePublished":"2019-10-22T11:00:28+00:00","dateModified":"2020-10-22T10:24:40+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/tq-george-santayana-fanaticism\/"},"wordCount":354,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/tq-george-santayana-fanaticism\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/George-Santayana-fanatic-practice.jpg","articleSection":["Tuesday Quotes"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/tq-george-santayana-fanaticism\/","url":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/tq-george-santayana-fanaticism\/","name":"George Santayana on Musical Fanaticism and Losing Our Way","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/tq-george-santayana-fanaticism\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/tq-george-santayana-fanaticism\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/George-Santayana-fanatic-practice.jpg","datePublished":"2019-10-22T11:00:28+00:00","dateModified":"2020-10-22T10:24:40+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/tq-george-santayana-fanaticism\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/tq-george-santayana-fanaticism\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/tq-george-santayana-fanaticism\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/George-Santayana-fanatic-practice.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/George-Santayana-fanatic-practice.jpg","width":640,"height":320,"caption":"George Santayana fanatic practice"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/tq-george-santayana-fanaticism\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"George Santayana on Musical Fanaticism and Losing Our Way"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/","name":"Classical Guitar Shed","description":"Learn Classical Guitar Online with No Guesswork","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/#organization"},"alternateName":"ClassicalGuitarShed","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/#organization","name":"Classical Guitar Shed","url":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/CGS-logo-black-400.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/CGS-logo-black-400.png","width":400,"height":192,"caption":"Classical Guitar Shed"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ClassicalGuitarShed\/","https:\/\/x.com\/CLguitarshed","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/classicalguitarshed\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/classicalguitarshed\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/ClassicalGuitarShed"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/#\/schema\/person\/435f2f8d2618df3c54e630e55ba86fc6","name":"Allen Mathews","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fd85201413da6cc89a33d7e7ee7256f3a3245f3c7f8edd8d34e11cf1dcb0b6e4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fd85201413da6cc89a33d7e7ee7256f3a3245f3c7f8edd8d34e11cf1dcb0b6e4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Allen Mathews"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2973"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61682"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61682\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}