Slacking much?

FRIDAY, practiced very little: just half an hour to warm up the Saint-Saens for my coaching. Saturday and Sunday I was out of town in Bloomington and Indianapolis, so I didn't get a chance to practice either. Today I did about 90 minutes total in the afternoon. Did about 15 minutes of tone exercises, worked on memorizing Maquarre for another fifteen (with SUCCESS! for the pattern anyway), and divided the hour pretty much evenly between the Saint-Saens and C.P.E. Bach. Yes, I've been slacking, but at least this afternoon was productive.

I had to read the first chapter of Twyla Tharp's The Creative Habit for my lesson tomorrow, and I read it this afternoon while I was working out. I was disappointed. It made me feel bad about myself. Not that this is Ms. Tharp's fault; I guess I'm always hoping for some kind of eureka moment every time I read something like this, and every time the answer always seems to be that being a successful artist is something I'll never have the time or energy or willpower to do. Actually, the time excuse is starting to be pretty bogus, and it's definitely more of an energy/willpower thing. One thing Tharp did bring up, that I thought was a good comparison, was how writers write every day--they do, or at least they're encouraged to. I do. I wonder why it's so much easier for me to spend time writing than it is to spend time practicing? My guess is that writing is about interacting with the outside world, whereas practicing an instrument is traditionally associated with closing oneself off. That's also probably why I prefer performing to practicing. Oh well, I shan't let this bring me down! It's only Monday...

But before I let my brief lines of optimism get the better of me, I also have to rant about others' attitudes in my music school. I was exhausted this afternoon as I was leaving my 20th Century Musical Literature class, and as I exited the room with a violinist friend, I said, "Should I nap or practice between now and orchestra?" Without missing a beat, a soprano walking behind us said, in a really chipper voice, "Nap. Practicing is never the answer." I have a sense of humor, but what the hell?! I felt really resentful. First of all, singers are only supposed to practice for, what, up to an hour a day? How are instrumentalists supposed to feel when one says something like that?

...Which brings up the whole "efficient practice" vs. "practice at least three hours a day" business that torments me so and has become the essence of this blog as of late...

...it's monday...