Check out my big boy and his beloved horn...
With a whole series of auditions coming up, Anson is practicing, practicing, practicing (Go, boy, go! We're hoping for some scholarships.). Last night after his lesson, he came home with some interesting information. His teacher, who is a horn player for the NC symphony, spent a big part of the lesson talking to him about deliberate practice vs. haphazard practice.
She repeated this important quote, "Practice doesn't make perfect. It makes permanent."
Practicing incorrect notes, rhythms or pitches over and over only perpares you to perform badly. Deliberate, careful and correct practice is the only preparation for a beautiful performance.
The phrase "in a rut" took on new meaning for me one day as I was reading an article about the effect of habits on our brain. There is actually a groove produced in the area of the brain affected by the habit. That's why it's so hard to actually break a bad habit. You LITERALLY are in a rut! It takes intentional, repeated practice of a new habit to break an old one.
I'm definitely not the musician in the family, but I desire for my life to be a beautiful performance bringing glory to the One who made me. I've been reflecting all day about practicing deliberately and correctly. It means giving thanks when I feel like complaining. It means quieting myself to spend time in Jesus' presence when my to-do list is screaming. It means studying His Words when the words on my Kindle are calling. It means intentionally breaking out of the ruts that my flesh have carved into my brain (and my soul) and choosing new paths where Jesus is leading.
My practice may not ever lead to perfection, but I so want the product to be a thing of beauty.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Deliberate Practice
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3 comments:
The Hubs and I were just talking about this the other day. He said that if you keep doing something you get better at it. I disagreed and said it depends on what you are doing because you can possibly be further ingraining bad habits. We need good mentors and examples that can point out what we are doing wrong and have the courage and love to speak this into our lives. Anson is such a handsome young man, keep practicing that which is excellent!
Oh I LOVE the french horn my son played it for six years and you know he went to college not with a scholarship but he is a police sargeant and runs a district attorneys office, the practise and the discipline is a good thing for these young men to realize nothing comes without work and determination.
Thanks for the challenge, Amy!! Oh, I want to deliberately MOVE closer to Him!!
Love and hugs!
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