{"id":98365,"date":"2020-03-10T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-10T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/?p=98365"},"modified":"2020-10-22T03:08:48","modified_gmt":"2020-10-22T10:08:48","slug":"tq-alan-cohen-joy-lesson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/tq-alan-cohen-joy-lesson\/","title":{"rendered":"Alan Cohen on Finding More Joy in Guitar Practice"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Tuesday Quotes are short explorations of music, life, and the daily endeavor of practicing classical guitar. <a href=\"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/category\/tuesday-quotes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">Find more here<\/a>. Enjoy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p><em>\u201cDon\u2019t postpone joy until you have learned all of your lessons. Joy is your lesson.\u201d <\/em><\/p><cite> <em>Alan Cohen<\/em> <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>Why\ndo we play music? Why do we challenge ourselves with difficult pieces\nand challenging exercises?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Is it all for a future payoff? Is all our work to claim bragging rights on the advanced-level piece? or the faster <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/el2.convertkit-mail.com\/c\/preview\/e5uph7h9\/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuY2xhc3NpY2FsZ3VpdGFyc2hlZC5jb20vY2xhc3NpY2FsLWd1aXRhci1zY2FsZXMv\" target=\"_blank\">s<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/classical-guitar-scales\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"c (opens in a new tab)\">c<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/classical-guitar-scales\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">ales<\/a>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the day-to-day <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/guitar-practice-schedule\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">routine<\/a> of guitar practice, it\u2019s easy to forget the whole point of it all. We may lose track of why we started this game in first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For\nmost of us, we came to guitar wanting a satisfying challenge. We\nwanted something that we could enjoy working on over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And we have started guitar with dreams of playing the grand <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/easy-pieces\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">showpiece<\/a>. If so, we probably thought playing at that level would be fun and rewarding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We wake each day with the opportunity to enjoy meaningful work. In any given practice, we have the power to set small <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/fine-details-classical-guitar-polish-perfect\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">challenges<\/a> and meet them. We can focus our attention and reach for our highest <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/arpeggios\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">standards<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/short-guitar-practices\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">short practices<\/a>, we can strive for excellence and meet each moment with our best self.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This\ntype of practice may not always be \u201cfun\u201d. We may not register it\nas \u201cpleasure\u201d in the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But\nit serves us at a deeper level. As we remain aware in each moment of\nour practice, we experience the joy of living.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s not the fleeting pleasure of cotton candy or chocolate cake. But the intimate rewards of a moment well-lived. The satisfaction gained from doing our best, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/no-mistakes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">flaws<\/a> and all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The prize of learning guitar does not lie in the future. The landmark triumphs are just steps along the way. Instead, guitar is a tool by which we <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/questions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">engage<\/a> ourselves. And that engagement is the prize.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tuesday Quotes are short explorations of music, life, and the daily endeavor of practicing classical guitar. Find more here. Enjoy! \u201cDon\u2019t postpone joy until you have learned all of your lessons. Joy is your lesson.\u201d Alan Cohen Why do we play music? Why do we challenge ourselves with difficult pieces and challenging exercises? Is it all for a future payoff? &#8230; <\/p>\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/tq-alan-cohen-joy-lesson\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2973,"featured_media":98366,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[328],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tuesday-quotes"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.8 (Yoast SEO v25.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Alan Cohen on Finding More Joy in Guitar Practice<\/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=\"Alan Cohen on Finding More Joy in Guitar Practice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tuesday Quotes are short explorations of music, life, and the daily endeavor of practicing classical guitar. Find more here. Enjoy! \u201cDon\u2019t postpone joy until you have learned all of your lessons. Joy is your lesson.\u201d Alan Cohen Why do we play music? Why do we challenge ourselves with difficult pieces and challenging exercises? Is it all for a future payoff? ... 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Find more here. Enjoy! \u201cDon\u2019t postpone joy until you have learned all of your lessons. Joy is your lesson.\u201d Alan Cohen Why do we play music? Why do we challenge ourselves with difficult pieces and challenging exercises? Is it all for a future payoff? ... 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