raychenviolin

I believe when people have feelings of frustration or inadequacy from lack of progress, it speaks to their personal metric for success. If you shift your mindset of what determines success for you (for eg. If your goal is to be able to play with others or if you're measuring how well you play against others) then you'll be in a much happier and healthier mindset that allows you to enjoy music.

I first like to categorize goals into scope, so long (>6 months), medium (1-3 month), and short term (1-4 weeks). There are of course even shorter daily goals, as well as longer epic goals, but for the most part it's about correctly categorizing things first to avoid frustration and sadness.

I didn't always have frameworks like this (and I wish I had), but this has helped me immensely through professional career, especially when you have to juggle so much repertoire + all the travel, meetings, other projects (like Tonic) etc. but here are a few examples of goals:

Daily goal 1: Be able to play through 2 pages.

Daily goal 2: Be able to add in phrasing + intonation + musicality.

Weekly goal 1: Be able to complete 1 movement (not memorized)

Weekly goal 2: Be able to memorize that movement.

etc. Obviously more layers apply but then you can add another layer (for eg. another piece or movement) when you feel like you have the capacity to do so. I think of "improvement" of technique as something that happens as I learn different pieces. Best not to get stuck on one piece for too longer (longer than 2 months). You can always come back to it later.

A few favorite concert halls where the acoustic is amazing: Suntory Hall (Tokyo), Koerner Hall (Toronto), Weiwuying (Kaohsiung), Walt Disney (LA), Davies (SF), Elbphilharmonie (Hamburg), Musikverein (Vienna), Concertgebouw (Amsterdam),

When I'm performing, I usually think of characters/personas. Sometimes it can become a story but usually it's simply a conversation or scene that happens. For example, at the bridge passage of Mendelssohn's 3rd movement, I imagine a conversation between a young student and an old teacher. The young student keeps asking why while the old teacher just keeps shaking their head. Eventually the student becomes determined to make their own decisions and that's when the 3rd movement starts into this adventure with lots of valleys, mountains, and beautiful scenery just rushing past.

If your mind is blank (which it can very easily become when practicing by yourself), then what comes out will also be blank and robotic. This is why it's important to always have a focused and conscious state when you're practicing.

1. It used to bother me that I couldn't figure out where my "home" was - was it Brisbane? Or Taipei? Or Philadelphia? Nowadays, I've come to realize that there doesn't have to be this rule of "only one home". You don't have to be home-ogenous. Home is where you can relax, recharge, and hang out with some really close friends.
2. Demon Slayer, One Punch Man (get it together guys for season 3), Mob Psycho. I grew up with Naruto, DBZ (I'm so lost nowadays), and of course Pokemon (but only the original 152). Recently dived into Jojo's Bizarre Adventures which is so whacky but so awesome. Also the OST Golden Wind is my gym anthem.

Wow, so many to choose! But my favorite and probably one that everybody knows is: "What's the difference between a violist and a prostitute? A prostitute knows more than two positions."