DIGGING SOLID FOUNDATIONS THE CRAFT OF PRACTICE

hen learning a new piece or maintaining a piece that is in our active repertoire, one of the biggest obstacles to reaching our goal is not appreciating the difference between the process of practising and the act of performing (or playing through). This dichotomy is often misunderstood even by conservatory piano students who assume they are practising when they hammer through their pieces, hacking at errors until they consider them vanquished. Hours can be wasted doing it this way, with no guarantee of secure results at the end of it all. We may be so impatient to play that we take short cuts, omitting steps that would make our end product so much stronger, more durable and of far greater quality if only we kept in mind that the learning process is a journey that takes time and patience. While practising is often enjoyable and fulfilling, like any discipline it can sometimes