Developing musical instincts makes all the difference.
Today I challenged my students to focus in on developing musical habits that they apply routinely. Crescendos on long notes. Attention to cutoffs. Vertical reading. I call my list “Factory Defaults.”
Why focus on this habit?
Making music when these habits are secure is like Van Gogh’s painting – secure strokes, clarity of line, rich artistry. The alternative is to intentionally apply these habits to each instance in the music. “Grow on this long note. Grow on that long note. Grow on this long note too.” That scenario is like paint-by-number. You might get an image that recalls a work of art, but through painstaking, repetitive, boring work of coloring in little boxes.
The art is elevated when we build musical instincts that we can routinely apply to our repertoire.