Practice in Public Makes Perfect: how playing for your fans makes you better
Written by Sunny Unachi on 18th May 2016
Price, 57, has played music nearly her whole life, starting with piano when she was five years old. But in the fall of 2009, the guitar was still something of mystery to her. She had been playing for only a couple of months and was struggling a bit with the new challenges. Yet, instead of holing up in her living room to practice until she felt more confident, she did something totally unexpected: she packed up her guitar and sheet music, headed into downtown Los Angeles, and set up outdoors to work through the new techniques.
Twice a year, Active Arts, a series of programs run by the Music Center in Los Angeles, invites recreational musicians to the arts center’s campus for a 30-minute outdoor practice session called Public Practice. There are no rules about what participants can and cannot play, and mistakes are more than welcome.
“I looked at it as a way to make the time to practice, because I’m always so busy,” explains Price, a legal secretary. Having participated in Public Practice three times, she’s found that bringing her music outdoors helps her focus. “Playing out in public encourages me to approach things a little bit differently. Even though it’s not a performance, knowing that I might have observers helps me to organize my practice session,” she says.
On the other hand, Eric Oto, a saxophonist and two-time participant, has occasionally found himself sidetracked during outdoor sessions–but in a good way. “The acoustics were so fascinating that I ended up, for a little while, just strolling around the campus plaza listening for different sounds,” says the 48-year-old lawyer. “Hearing the sounds bouncing off of the granite, concrete, and everything else outside was really interesting, and it got me to think a lot more about sound production, rather than just technique.”
Reader's opinions
Comments are closed.
Continue reading
Commenter 264 On 21st May 2016 at 5:19 pm
ris. Sed facilisis nulla a est. Proin sit amet lectus. Morbi suscipit libero a nisl. Sed quam ipsum, ullamcorper non, congue vitae, ornare non, nisl. Nunc ultrices. Aliquam imperdiet velit sit amet nulla. Sed a neque. Fusce tempus tortor ut diam. Quisque sagittis lacus eget velit. Quisque augue magna, commodo in, molestie nec, convallis at, tortor. Etiam blandit ultrices tortor. Aliquam nisi risus, lobortis vitae, elementum pulvinar, viverra vel, dolor. Donec metus urna, faucibus aliquet, egestas in, adipiscing sit amet, risus. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Proin nisi. Nunc hendrerit nisi lobortis purus.
Vivamus turpis ante, ultrices scelerisque, elementum id, tempor at, quam. Cras eu mauris eu nulla congue convallis. Fusce ornare, nibh sit amet porta rhoncus, nibh metus tincidunt
Commenter 265 On 21st May 2016 at 5:19 pm
lerisque, elementum id, tempor at, quam. Cras eu mauris eu nulla congue convallis. Fusce ornare, nibh sit amet porta rhoncus, nibh metus tincidunt magna, quis gravida dui neque pharetra risus. Etiam a felis. Fusce sed dolor. Mauris lectus mi, fringilla tempor, varius sit amet, placerat a, velit. Suspendisse justo. In vehicula urna fringilla neque. Suspendisse cursus, magna a imperdiet pellentesque, lacus velit dignissim urna, vel suscipit massa enim ac nunc. Proin porta aliquet eros. Curabitur ut erat. Quisque vitae tortor.
Duis imperdiet, mi eget euismod fermentum, odio nisl posuere quam, sit amet tristique urna diam at lacus. Duis congue lacus non ipsum. Donec felis tortor, lacinia at, rhoncus id, scelerisque ornare, nisi. Mauris felis ligula, pharetra vitae, posuere eget, tincidunt at, turpis. Donec eget ligula. Praesent fermentum dictum nisl. Phasellus enim. Nam placer
Commenter 266 On 21st May 2016 at 5:19 pm
s eu diam. Maecenas at nibh. Nullam mattis pharet
Commenter 267 On 21st May 2016 at 5:19 pm
eleifend hendrerit. Phasellus orci nunc, fermentum eu, ultrices quis, dapibus vitae, lectus. Donec blandit ligula vitae justo. Quisque rutrum ante ac nisi. Sed at mi. Donec eget odio in est tempus malesuada. Donec sem. Donec tortor. In auctor purus a lectus. Nulla a leo. Curabitur velit. In et lorem. Quisque congue, lorem sed cursus ullamcorper, mauris urna adipiscing enim, eget pulvinar est lacus ut augue.
Aliquam erat volutpat. Proin scelerisque lectus non purus. Donec quis tellus. Vestibulum dictum imperdiet lacus. Integer magna libero,
Commenter 268 On 21st May 2016 at 5:19 pm
vel odio. Quisque lacus. Etiam consectetur rutrum justo.
Duis facilisis. Aliquam sagittis. Proin consectetur egestas metus. Curabitur pellentesque posuere arcu. Integer lorem nulla, congue a, rhoncus nec, vestibulum a, ante. Mauris lobortis iaculis erat. Maecenas faucibus tincidunt dui. Cras accumsan vestibulum ligula. Morbi dapibus, lorem nec euismod pharetra, augue risus congue augue, molestie eleifend lacus magna nec magna. Morbi ac lorem.
Aliquam id ipsum. Sed mauris. Cum sociis nat
Commenter 269 On 21st May 2016 at 5:19 pm
molestie at, laoreet convallis, metus. Fusce leo nisi, ornare ut, ullamcorper ac, molestie et, quam. In vehicula arcu eu risus. Fusce ultrices lectus sit amet diam. Maecenas commodo risus eu diam. Maecenas at nibh. Nullam mattis pharetra dolor. Donec eleifend leo sit amet diam. Quisque ante. Aliquam erat volutpat.
Maecenas vel lectus. Maecenas convallis lorem at risus. Nullam facilisis tortor. Quisque quis turpis. Suspendisse consectetur nisl. Integer facilisis, massa consectetur mattis sollicitudin, lectus elit pharetra eros, ut dignissim sapien nunc eu nisi. Nunc tortor. Vestibulum imperdiet. Aliquam erat volutpat. Integer fermentum tincidunt nisl. Vivamus fringilla, augue vel consec
Commenter 270 On 21st May 2016 at 5:19 pm
cenas convallis lorem at risus. Nullam facilisis tortor. Quisque quis turpis. Suspendisse consectetur nisl. Integer facilisis, massa consectetur mattis sollicitudin, lectus elit pharetra eros, ut dignissim sapien nu