Review: The Inner Game of Music
The Inner Game of Music
By Barry Green, W. Timothy Gallwey
Buy it at Amazon: (Canada - US/International)
Those of you unfamiliar with the legacy of this title will need to travel back to the 1970’s when his popular book The Inner Game of Tennis was a big seller. Since the 1970s, Timothy Gallwey’s books such as The Inner Game of Tennis, The Inner Game of Golf, Inner Skiing and The Inner Game of Work have coached millions in the mastery of their art. The Inner Game of Tennis sold more than one million copies. Besides sports, his training methods have been applied to the fields of business, health, and education.
“By the best-selling co-author of Inner Tennis, here’s a book designed to help musicians overcome obstacles, help improve concentration, and reduce nervousness, allowing them to reach new levels of performing excellence and musical artistry.” (Product description)
The key to this book is to put the advice into action! Reading the book is plenty useful as it will give you many new ideas but you have to try out everything he suggests. At times it might seem a bit corny and superficial – or even too obvious – but put his ideas to the test and you’ll see results.
My favorite advice in the book is a muscle relaxation technique. I’ve now put this into constant use in my studio at the Victoria Conservatory.
- Try playing a short passage of music and tense all your muscles. You might make some mistakes but really tense up. Rate your level of tension from 1-10. Your high tension rate should be between 8-10.
- Now play the passage again with a tension level of 1-3. By rating your muscle tension you begin to build a system that puts you in a position of ultra awareness with your muscles. It really works.
Besides practical tips the book aims at make musicians at peace with practising, performing, and the lifelong commitment we dedicate to our art.
Classical Guitar Canada Rating (out of ten stars.): 9 stars
Marcin Dylla Interview
Marcin Dylla – Classical Guitar Performance – GFA Winner 2007
Interview/promotion for his upcoming DVD release.
Marcin Dylla Website: www.marcindylla.com
The Week in Links (Feburary 23)
The Week in Links is a new section to the blog. It will come out every weekend (obviously I’m not too on the ball as today is Tuesday). But from now on – Weekends!
History & Knowledge:
- The Evolution of Classical Guitar Technique – Part 1 (www.www.classicalguitarreview.com)
- The Evolution of Classical Guitar Technique – Part 2 (www.classicalguitarreview.com)
- Unlocking Carcassi’s Dynamics (www.classicalguitarblog.net)
Practise and performance:
- The ultimate practice shortcut (musiciansway.com)
- Practise tips
- Performance reborn (www.artsjournal.com/sandow)
- A great article about the dynamic world of classical music performance. Practical tips to becoming a better performer: Study acting. Take movement classes. Work with a stage director. Tell stories. Improvise musically. Compose. Play everything wrong!
This week in Classical Guitar Canada Posts:
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