Fascinating Fridays: Emotional Benefits of Daily Practice

The emotional benefits for daily practice are also too many to mention in
their totality, but here are a few:

1. Listening – Music is about listening intently. As we grow older, listening matures like everything else. We hear nuances in our own musical playing as well as in those of others.

2. We become discerning knowing what we like and what we don’t like.

3. We have the confidence to branch out and create new experiences on our instrument.

4. We enjoy playing with others, as we blend into each other’s expressive musical offerings. This is complex listening and creating on many levels at once.

5. We love that our consistent practicing has given us the freedom to know one another intimately through our music. We can give and take, appreciating the efforts of each person in the group.

6. We play from the heart-mind, rather than the ego-mind.

7. We live our lives emotionally through its natural TONE. Suzuki said: “Tone has a living soul!” This expression is not just for music, but for noble living, happy living, deep living. When our music is beautiful, we are beautiful!