The reason so many of us lose our bearings about practising early in life is that we practice in living rooms with other family members in earshot - and healthy practice would simply sound too obnoxious, intrusive, repetitious and unmusical for others to hear without annoyance.

If you have played "six times wrong, one time right" the problem is not quite corrected.

If we're not actively making things better, chances are we're making them worse.

Learning itself is a fulfilling adventure at all points in the process. In fact, psychologists have listed learning as one of the basic, universal joys of human experience.

. .the most crucial ingredient by far for success in music is . . .what happens in the practice room.

Don't attribute mishaps to a lapse in concentration - if you missed the note you don't know it.

Music study presents a natural, here-and-now route to selfknowledge and self-integration.