“Practice makes perfect” but what is it that makes the practice lead to perfection. Many involved in an extracurricular activity have to practice whether it’s a sport that your college education is determined on or some singing lessons you may attend for your school's spring musical.
I personally practice my instruments. For over a decade now I have been practicing. So many hours of practice feeding into days of my life focused on perfection.
In middle school I played the clarinet in my school's ensemble, going into 8th grade I transitioned onto alto saxophone. This was the instrument I had been waiting for for years. I began on clarinet so that I would have experience on a reed instrument but we already had 2 alto saxophones. I was intimidated by these people who had a year of prior experience.
I began taking home this comparatively heavy instrument every day. Practicing everything from full range chromatics, warm ups we played daily, to jazz pieces where I was featured in a solo. This instrument shortly became my life, my validation and my confidence.
In my practice I was working towards becoming better, this was my passion and what I wanted my time to be consumed by. I soon became the first chair and was so proud, but I still kept practicing. I didn't feel that it was enough.
Soon our winter concert was upon us and I had my very first solo, I was ready, I had played this solo a thousand times before. I played it fast, slow, and in class to practice different techniques and styles that I liked. But as my time came up I choked. I got 4 measures into my solo and couldn't continue. I was frozen. Never in my life had I heard my pulse so loud. I had never felt so little control.
My confidence was shattered. I felt horrible, I let my ensemble down and embarrassed my parents. Although they comforted me and insisted on the fact that no one noticed, I was still distraught. This piece I had perfected I couldn’t perform it one last time?
So practice doesn’t always mean perfection, but what does? In order to perfect perfection you have to practice perfection. That solo in my middle school concert was my first of many. My first live solo practice. As you practice performing life, you perfect performing live, and that was a fact that I had to learn through making mistakes.
“Perfect practice makes perfect performance”
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Morgan, this post is relatable in so many ways. The feeling of dedicating countless time to something you're passionate about and making a mistake when the big moment comes has also happened to me, in fact multiple times. One thing about your quote, 'Perfect practice makes perfect performance' is that it can be applied to such a diverse range of activities. While many people are naturally good at certain things, perfection is only achieved through tons of time dedicated through practice. Also, I can tell you've practiced a lot - you sound great at concerts! Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteMorgan, I thought the anecdote about your solo at the winter concert was perfect to connect with the challenges of practice. I can tell that you are dedicated to your instrument and have learned so much from it. I loved the last line of your blog because it tied everything together, and it left a meaningful impact!
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