I am so happy to turn my blog over to an amazing woman and artist, Becky Chaffee. Her book is different and a valuable tool with profound insight for a budding or a seasoned musician.
Welcome, Becky.
Thank you, Jan. I appreciate your hospitality.
There are so Many Reasons to Play a Musical Instrument.
It’s not only fun to play an instrument, but for both young and old, it’s healthy! To inspire you to practice, I created a fun, witty book with practice stories and tips from great musicians, Passion For Practice With Musings From Music Masters.
Playing an instrument uses more of your brain than any other art and more than playing a sport according to Ted Talk, “How Playing A Musical Instrument Benefits Your Brain”, by Dr. Anita Collins. It creates fresh neuron connections in your brain. Talking about connections, playing is a very social activity which is also healthy and fun! I joined a music club, but you can also join a community band or orchestra or play duets to make new friends.
If you learned an instrument in grade school, take some lessons again from a teacher if you need help getting started again. The better you are, the more fun you’ll have. The regular practicing can be rough, but “Passion For Practice…” helps you to practice smarter, making it more of a fun challenge than rote practicing.
I have listened to about 20 years of music lessons from fine teachers (between my kids and myself) on violin, piano, flute, and guitar in both classical and jazz genres. The lessons expressed practice concepts in so many different ways that I thought it would be fun to express these lessons in paintings.
On the back cover of the book are testimonials from Ransom Wilson, Yale Flute Professor, and Steven Greenman, International Klezmer Violinist:
“A delightful and valuable resource for musicians of all ages and abilities, Passion for Practice offers instructive strategies for practicing effectively. Chaffee’s book promotes a positive message that resonates with the reader while encouraging patience, self-discipline, creative problem-solving, and self-reliance. Her wonderful illustrations add a vibrant display of color and imagery to reinforce each lesson. A clever use of wordplay presents analogies to solutions for musical and technical issues…augmented with insightful comments, stories, and advice from professional musicians and educators… an entertaining, supportive, and informative approach to learning music.”
— Steven Greenman, Violinist-Educator-Composer, Internationally Renowned Klezmer Violinist
“Ms. Chaffee’s creative book reminds people who grew up learning music that they can successfully pick up their instrument again. Whether playing by yourself or in a group, you have to practice to be proficient enough to enjoy playing. If you practice smarter, you will set yourself up for a fun challenge and have a rewarding experience. This book offers ideas for improving your practice sessions. Amazing practice tips and stories from very accomplished musicians included in the book will remind you of others out there practicing too and give you an understanding of what some of them went through to get to their playing level.”
–Ransom Wilson, Professor of Flute, Yale School of Music
You might also enjoy Have Fun With Your Music by Becky Chaffee, a book to encourage young musicians to make practicing their own.
PURCHASE LINK – PASSION FOR PRACTICE With Musings from Music Masters
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Becky Chaffee grew up in a musical household and raised two musical children. She has degrees in civil engineering from UC Berkeley and Cornell University. She enjoys playing flute for her music club. Through her music gifts company, MusicTeacherGifts.com, Becky raises funds for music education and has distributed $1,000s to youth. Much of the artwork in her books is presented on note cards, prints, and Tee shirts that sell in music stores and symphony gift shops such as the Brevard Music Center, Nashville, and San Francisco Symphony Gift Shops, SW Strings…
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