Mistakes are . . . immensely useful. . . they show us . . . where we are right now and what we need to do next

Much music teaching seems more concerned with controlling the student than with encouraging the student's own impulses.

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

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.

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

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

[perfectionism leads to] a tendency to apologize preemptively for one's efforts, knowing from experience that there's sure to be something wrong with them.