HAPPY NEW YEAR! Time to get back to blogging. Took a much needed break from music teaching. Read a lot of books. One novel alone was 800+ pages. Enjoyed domestic chores. Played with my kids. Laughed with extended family. The stuff of real life. Oh, sure, my real life also includes the musical score and its interpretation. However, it is good every so often to back away from the score. To EXPERIENCE life in order to then INTERPRET life in music.

Now it is time to start another year. I think I have a better understanding of my own limitations and what I need to do to remain effective. Much of it is application of what Twyla Tharp calls analyzing your own skill set. Look at page 169. Here she reminds us to "See where you're strong and where you need dramatic improvement, and tackle those lagging skills first. It's harder than it sounds (most useful habits are), but it's the only way to improve".

So for all you students looking down at the "blank slate" of a new term, take this advice to heart. It is easy to keep doing what you do well; the real work comes with acknowledging where you are weak and working to improve THESE skills (whether they are piano or aural skills or music history). So, here is to 2010 and hard work! May they both be rewarding!