Weekly Wisdom

It's been many moons since I did one of these "Weekly Wisdom" posts, but I saw a quote the other day that I really liked:

 

“Practice like you’ve never won. Play like you’ve never lost.”
-Michael Jordan

 

Mike was likely talking more about humility and swagger, but I do see a musical parallel here.  Many of us are guilty of playing when we should be practicing, and practicing when we should be playing.  Another common quote goes something like, "if you sound good in the practice room then you're not really practicing".

 

We should all be practicing as though we are beginners in whatever we are working on and not assume anything, as if we've never gigged in our lives.  We're simply trying to figure out how to play the instrument, and devoting our utmost focus to every detail.

 

But on the flip side of that, when we are gigging, practice should stop.  Many of those same among us who play in the practice room end up practicing on the bandstand.  You've got that thing you've been working on and make the active decision to give it a go, which almost always end in disappointment at best, or disaster at worst.  Once we are on stage we should be gigging with confidence like we've been at it our whole lives.  Let go of the practice, and just play.  We shouldn't be trying anything.  We should just be doing.

 

Practice is practice and playing is playing.  It's surprisingly rare that the twain should meet.