Words of encouragement and a reality check for young musicians

© Gordan Jankulov - Fotolia.com

A few days ago I posted the following on my Facebook page.  It seems to have hit quite a chord so I thought I should share it here as well in hopes that it can reach more musicians of any age and at any stage.  Feel free to comment below if you have any words of encouragement yourself and please do pass the post along to anyone you think might benefit from hearing it!  

Dear music students -
A little reality check to hopefully encourage you.

I have been playing piano for over 30 years,
I have put in a gazillion hours of practicing,
I have performed a lot,
I think I'm pretty good at what I do,
and I've performed the piano part of Desenclos' "Prelude, Cadence & Finale" for saxophone and piano at least 8 times now.

YET...and here's the important part...

Today, as I was preparing for yet another rehearsal for yet another performance I still felt like I had to give myself a pep talk in order to face another practice session. I still have a LONG way to go to feel like I'm even close to doing it justice.

YET...and here's another really important part...

THAT'S OK!!!!

So next time you are kicking yourself because you haven't gotten your piece note-perfect, stop and remember you have a lifetime ahead of you to keep working on it. It's never over. Not even when the fat lady sings. 

Keep practicing, keep looking for what else you can do to improve, keep looking for the music behind the notes...and take pride in what you do!

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