Practice

Click, click, click, click...

The metronome relentlessly keeps time, marking not only the beat, but every hesitation as well.  Every mistake is illuminated by this piercing sound.

Eyes on hands, she plays the first page flawlessly.  Her confidence reflects the hours she's spent carefully learning each note.

Suddenly she hesitates, the constant click giving her away...her eyes betraying her.  As she looks from the keys to the music, she muddles through the B section.  

Determination on her face, a sigh on her lips, persistence in her heart, she keeps playing as the metronome speeds ahead of her.  And suddenly, without warning, the metronome fades into the background, hidden by the precise notes.  


Without looking, I immediately know she's back to the A section.  Without asking, I immediately know this is the section she's practiced the most.

The A section is where she's lived.

But, without the B section, her song is incomplete, regardless if she's master the A section.

As her teacher, I have to push her to reach her full potential.  It is my job to bring her back to the B section.  To keep working on it until she's mastered it.

I know, first-hand, that she'd prefer to spend all of her time on the part she does well.  She is confident and unstoppable when she plays the part she's spent so much time on.  However, if I don't assign the unfamiliar, challenging section, she will never complete the piece. 

She will never be able to perform what the composer intended when he wrote the piece.  

As I look a the disappointment in her eyes when she hears that she must play it again, must practice the B section only, I see my own face reflected back.  I am suddenly aware that I've been making the same pouty face for quite some time now.

I'd rather live in my well-rehearsed section.  I can keep the pace when I'm in my comfort zone.  What was once challenging is fun; it enables my pride to soar.

"Before honor comes humility."   The proverb echoes in my ears.

The process is humbling and I don't like that.  I like to show off the sections I'm good at.

The whole is what makes the song beautiful, He softly reminds me.