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I Told You So!
I've been playing with a new-to-me app called ChatGPT. Just for fun, I asked the app for advice on learning to play a new instrument. Within 10 seconds, the app typed everything I've already been telling you. Week after week after week. Here's the advice ... verbatim.
QUOTE from Chat GPT::
Learning a new instrument can be an exciting and rewarding journey.
Here are some practice tips to help you make progress and enjoy the learning process:
- Set specific goals: Clearly define what you wa…
Connect to Get Motivated
Do you know what is the most common excuse people give for not following their dreams, for not reaching their goals. You may have already guessed it. They say, “I’m too busy,” followed by, “I just don’t have enough time.” Sounds familiar, right? If you’re like me, you’re a list-maker. But I don’t usually write “practice dulcimer” on my to-do list. It’s more like an after-thought. Mentally I’m saying something like, “If I have time after I finish this list, I’ll pick up my hammers and practice t…
Look B4 You Leap!
Look Before You LEAP! This expression has been found in old manuscripts as far back as 1350 and appeared in a collection of proverbs by John Heywood in 1546. Its first use in the U.S. was in 1677 in the History of Indian Wars in New England. It’s all about thinking, paying attention, and taking on the world in such a way that you don’t fall flat on your face because you forged ahead too fast.
I think this is good advice for approaching a new tune as well. I admit, sometimes I charge right in … e…
Don't Be a Dulcimer Hermit
So you want to get better at playing your dulcimer. Well, to do that, you need to spend a lot of one-on-one time with your dulcimer. But that doesn’t mean you need to become a hermit! We’re all connected online. You are getting this email. If you’re like me, you belong to a few dulcimer groups on FaceBook. You may even have attended so me of the online dulcimer festivals. That’s grrrrrreat! But do you ever pack up your dulcimer and put it in the car and go places with it? If not, it’s time you …
No More U-Word
Did you know that “um” is actually a word in the dictionary? It is defined as, “… expressing hesitation or a pause in speech, a natural utterance first recorded in English in the early 17th century.” Wow! That word’s been around for a while. But it’s an automatic response I use when someone asks me to do something outside my comfort zone, and I’m struggling to find a really good excuse to get out of doing it.
For many years, I’ve been an UM-ing kind of person. There have been ums in my marriage…
OVER-Memorize
I have been retired for one week now. But I’m not so sure it’s going to last!!! I belong to a FB group for piano teachers, and I read their posts with great interest, as I taught piano for so many years.
Recently, I saw a post in which a returning pianist without a teacher posted a video of herself playing a Chopin nocturne. I guess she was hoping for a free lesson from the online group. I was familiar with the nocturne, having played it myself and also having taught it a few times. After watch…
How to Fix It
I want to encourage you to learn a new tune regularly – at least once a month. But if you’re at home, practicing on your own, how do you know if you got it right, and how do you correct errors?
Most of you will be able hear when something doesn’t sound right in your music. Personally, I find a recording of the new tune I am learning (usually on YouTube) and listen to it several times before beginning to learn just the melody. But if I’m not sure that I nailed it, I record myself and listen back…
Baby Steps
I watched an old 1999 movie, Lost and Found, the other night, and found an encouraging word in it. In the movie, restaurant owner Dylan Ramsey is head-over-heels in love with his new neighbor, a French cellist named Lila and wants to gain her love. Now Lila has serious case of stage fright. She wants to audition to become a member of an elite orchestra, but just can’t work up the nerve to actually make the appointment and follow through.
So Dylan takes Lila to an empty outdoor theater with her …
Stop & Twist
One day I was hiking on a Colorado hillside with our oldest daughter, and she stopped by a funny looking plant with big droopy leaves. “Take a peek under the leaves,” she said. Well, it was awkward, but I got down on my knees and twisted my neck to check it out. Right there, under the leaves, was a gorgeous snow-white flower. Wow. I would have continued to charge right ahead down the path and missed that beautiful bloom, if we hadn’t stopped to do a little extra (and uncomfortable) reconnaissanc…
Is Repetition Enough?
I keep up with a piano teacher whom I admire, Fiona Berry, to see what she’s been up to lately. She has been teaching piano for 25 years, and is well-known in the world of piano competitions. Fiona recently returned home from travelling the UK, judging at a series of music festivals.
Fiona was thrilled to see how many adults were participating in the competition, but also felt their pain when they didn’t do as well as they had expected. Now Fiona was positive these hopefuls had spent many hours…
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