The Art of Practicing Quotes

“Whether you are five years old and irresistibly drawn to the piano in your home, or you are an adult who suddenly falls in love with music and decides to take lessons, the knowledge that you belong in the world of music is deep and indestructible. It is part of your basic nature, as much as the color of your eyes or the sound of your voice. Even your choice of instrument might feel choiceless; you hear a piano or a cello and somehow know that that is the instrument you must play.”
― Madeline Bruser, The Art of Practicing: A Guide to Making Music from the Heart

“Art comes from life,” he read. “It is organic.” The words left a deep impression on me and still move me today. The life in a musical performance comes through in the natural ebb and flow of its phrasing, a rhythmic elasticity inherent in human pulse, breath, and movement. Unlike the rigid rhythms of machines, the rhythms we create and respond to most readily are flexible, like those we experience in our everyday activities—speaking, gesturing, walking, running, dancing, making love. And the music we make has a bodily logic that supports whatever intellectual logic we may find in it.”
― Deline Bruser, The Art of Practicing: A Guide to Making Music from the Heart