The "P" Word

It can be as exhilarating as Parachuting out of a Plane; it can be a Panacea to Perturbing Problems; it can increase Peacefulness; Martin Luther said it is like a Prayer and Pleasing to God; it can be as Puzzling as a Paradox; occasionally it is as Perfunctory as Putting out the trash; more often it's as stimulating as a Piccaso Painting; always it's imperative. What's the "P" word? The "P" word is not Perfection. The "P" word is "Practice".

"Little by little does the trick", said Aesop. Practicing music means isolating the hard Parts and chipping away at them in a slow and repetitive Process; just like a sculptor chops away at a block of marble until the creation is what the artist wants it to be. Practice is exercising muscles to develop strength and agility (which is one way that music and baseball are similar).

My friends found it inconceivable that I would Practice one Piece, section, or Phrase repeatedly, for hours; the same musical phrase over and over again at Snail's Pace. One Organ teacher insisted that "Practice means Playing Perfectly." Practicing means going deeper. When you Practice, you learn Persistence, Patience, and what Process means -- not bad concepts to embrace and three more good "P" words!

Practice is a pre-requisite in perfecting a double backflip, a 50 mph baseball Pitch, Change-ringing, computer coding, Plumbing, architecture, or the healing arts. You simply do not get better without Practice. Expertise, I have been told, comes after 10,000 hours of Practice. Nearly everything we do needed and continues to need practice. Isn't this life on earth Practice for eternal life with God? Anything worth doing usually requires a lot of Practice.

Some less obvious things need Practice, too. Good stewardship Pleasing to God, compassion, Prayer, spiritual disciplines, and new hymns are hard. We never begin at the expertise level. The more we practice them, though, the better we get.

The Point of all of this is to Ponder the Practice of Practicing. It helps me see music as a process rather than a product. Artists Practice to produce poignant artistic expressions. Christians Practice to give God glory. Praise God, Practice it.