We must have our end musical goal(s) in mind from the beginning. Last night I was working on a solo, and continued to redirect my mind towards what I wanted to say musically. This not only helped me play a certain passage easier/quicker, it was much more enjoyable to explore my imagination and celebrate when I reached my own musical standard. Then I could work on building muscle memory and consistency.
I look back on days, even within this past year where I worked on solos (and more) with the idea of fixing mistakes. This is daunting, and can take the joy out of playing music. Don't get me wrong, there is a way to practice and clean that is needed, but I believe it should be much more objective than what I typically was doing. It's easy to assume that something is wrong with us, and maybe there is a technical aspect we need to work on, but going after the end musical idea, from the beginning, is much more gratifying.
Time to Keep Exploring,
Adam C White
