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Tube of delight!

#1 2008-04-13 17:42:28

Tairaku 太楽
Administrator/Performer
From: Tasmania
Registered: 2005-10-07
Posts: 3226
Website

Practice Quotes

“An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.”
Mahatma Gandhi (Indian Philosopher, internationally esteemed for his doctrine of nonviolent protest, 1869-1948)

           

      “When you are not practicing, remember, someone somewhere is practicing, and when you meet him he will win”
Ed Macauley ( Basketball Player, b.1928)

                   

      “It's not necessarily the amount of time you spend at practice that counts; it's what you put into the practice.”
Eric Lindros (Canadian professional ice hockey player. b.1973 London, Ontario, Canada)

   

      “Practice is the best of all instructors”
Publilius Syrus  (Roman author, 1st century B.C.)

       
“Practice means to perform, over and over again in the face of all obstacles, some act of vision, of faith, of desire. Practice is a means of inviting the perfection desired.”
Martha Graham  (American Dancer, Teacher and Choreographer of modern dance, 1894-1991)

       

      “We learn by practice. Whether it means to learn to dance by practicing dancing or to learn to live by practicing living, the principles are the same. One becomes in some area an athlete of God.”
Martha Graham (American Dancer, Teacher and Choreographer of modern dance, 1894-1991)


'Progress means simplifying, not complicating' : Bruno Munari

http://www.myspace.com/tairakubrianritchie

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#2 2008-04-13 18:40:28

nyokai
shihan
From: Portland, ME
Registered: 2005-10-09
Posts: 613
Website

Re: Practice Quotes

I don't know if this is originally his idea, but I was very influenced at one point by hearing Riley say "It's not how many hours you practice, it's how many minutes"... meaning, I think, that we are all tempted to waste a lot of time in a practice session, and what counts is the time you're really focused on the task at hand.

Last edited by nyokai (2008-04-13 18:47:39)

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#3 2008-04-13 19:30:13

janemukei
Member
From: New York
Registered: 2006-06-08
Posts: 23

Re: Practice Quotes

I heard Riley Lee say, "Don't ask someone how long they have been playing shakuhachi, ask how many minutes they've practiced."

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#4 2008-04-14 06:48:55

nyokai
shihan
From: Portland, ME
Registered: 2005-10-09
Posts: 613
Website

Re: Practice Quotes

Ah, maybe I misremembered it. Anyway, similar thought.

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#5 2008-04-14 07:28:57

Tairaku 太楽
Administrator/Performer
From: Tasmania
Registered: 2005-10-07
Posts: 3226
Website

Re: Practice Quotes

"Ask not what your shakuhachi can do for your practice, ask what your practice can do for your shakuhachi."


'Progress means simplifying, not complicating' : Bruno Munari

http://www.myspace.com/tairakubrianritchie

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#6 2008-04-15 05:33:47

Alex
Member
From: Barcelona - Spain
Registered: 2005-10-17
Posts: 138

Re: Practice Quotes

Tairaku wrote:

"Ask not what your shakuhachi can do for your practice, ask what your practice can do for your shakuhachi."

That's a great one! smile


"An artist has got to be careful never really to arrive at a place where he thinks he's "at" somewhere. You always have to realise that you are constantly in the state of becoming. And as long as you can stay in that realm, you'll sort of be all right"
Bob Dylan

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#7 2008-04-15 05:51:45

Tairaku 太楽
Administrator/Performer
From: Tasmania
Registered: 2005-10-07
Posts: 3226
Website

Re: Practice Quotes

"In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is."  Yogi Berra

"Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect."  Vincent T Lombardi

(Administrators note for benefit of non-American shakuhachi players. Vince Lombardi was the coach of the Green Bay Packers gridiron team, the most important sports franchise in American history. John Neptune uses this quote in his famous sheet of shakuhachi practice tips.)

"Why do you not practice what you preach?" Saint Jerome

"If I don't practice the way I should, then I won't play the way that I know I can." Ivan Lendl

"We have all the light we need, we just need to put it in practice." Albert Pike

"Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice." Anton Chekhov

"If you don't practice you don't deserve to win." Andre Agassi

"Practice has a logic which is not that of the logician."Pierre Bourdieu

"Practice makes permanent." Bobby Robson

"Practice and thought might gradually forge many an art." Virgil

"It's a funny thing, the more I practice the luckier I get." Arnold Palmer


'Progress means simplifying, not complicating' : Bruno Munari

http://www.myspace.com/tairakubrianritchie

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#8 2008-12-30 21:06:17

sahar
Member
Registered: 2008-12-22
Posts: 32

Re: Practice Quotes

janemukei wrote:

I heard Riley Lee say, "Don't ask someone how long they have been playing shakuhachi, ask how many minutes they've practiced."

To me this sounds like the quality of practice, rather than quantity. I would agree that quality of practice is extremely important however, I also believe that to become masterful at something it has to become a second nature to you. How could something become second nature? It takes a whole lot more than practice, it requires adapting a new lifestyle, not because you want to master something, but because you like it so much, to a large degree, you are obsessed with it. This "obsessive" method worked for me in other areas in life in the past, and as I'm just starting Shakuhachi, I'm hopeful it will work here as well.

Cheers

Sahar

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#9 2008-12-31 00:58:04

edosan
Edomologist
From: Salt Lake City
Registered: 2005-10-09
Posts: 2185

Re: Practice Quotes

Tairaku wrote:

(Administrators note for benefit of non-American shakuhachi players. Vince Lombardi was the coach of the Green Bay Packers gridiron team, the most important sports franchise in American history. John Neptune uses this quote in his famous sheet of shakuhachi practice tips.)

Tairaku's not like, BIASED or anything [he's from Milwaukee, I believe...]!

Everybody knows that the Australian Cricket team is the most important franchise in American history...


Zen is not easy.
It takes effort to attain nothingness.
And then what do you have?
Bupkes.

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#10 2008-12-31 04:15:45

Bruce Hunter
Member
From: Apple Valley CA
Registered: 2005-10-10
Posts: 258

Re: Practice Quotes

What I want to know is, who makes all those tiny little uniforms for all those crickets?


Develop infallible technique and then lay yourself at the mercy of inspiration. - Anon.

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#11 2009-01-01 04:54:39

Dun Romin
Member
From: Holland
Registered: 2008-04-19
Posts: 136

Re: Practice Quotes

wink Probably the Chinese, but the shakuhachiplayers make their music........ Miyama Gurahashi. smile And that defenitly must make it the best team.


Tomorrow's wind only blows tomorrow. (Koji)

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#12 2009-01-16 05:03:37

froggyantbear
Member
Registered: 2008-12-28
Posts: 12

Re: Practice Quotes

Riley lee did say that to me, that "its not important how long you have played the shakuhachi, but how many minutes you have practiced it."

On many of occasions, and it is so very true. I think in shakuhachi and buddhist terms, the relationship between perfection and practice should be
restated:

"perfection is in the act of practice, not the act for it"

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#13 2009-02-13 07:50:20

heyjude
Member
From: Western North Carolina
Registered: 2009-01-29
Posts: 16

Re: Practice Quotes

"Don't practice your mistakes"




Jude


"Man cannot live on bread alone, he must have peanut butter" - Kruger Bear

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#14 2009-02-17 12:33:26

axolotl
Member
From: Los Angeles
Registered: 2007-11-16
Posts: 215
Website

Re: Practice Quotes

Riley also said "practice doesn't make perfect; perfect practice makes perfect!"  Also, to follow Jude, something along the lines of "If you make a mistake, you must practice as many times as needed until you make the mistake, and then you must play it correctly twice as many times as you have played it incorrectly."  That one isn't as short and pithy, but it's impaw-tant.

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#15 2009-02-17 16:17:42

Vevolis
Member
From: Toronto, ON
Registered: 2007-12-24
Posts: 175
Website

Re: Practice Quotes

"Practice accounts for everything! Procrastination amounts to nothing. You can actively practice nothingness if you’d like; just practice something lest you become nothing."

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#16 2009-02-18 08:57:46

Bruce Hunter
Member
From: Apple Valley CA
Registered: 2005-10-10
Posts: 258

Re: Practice Quotes

axolotl wrote:

Riley also said "practice doesn't make perfect; perfect practice makes perfect!"

Right! Practice does not make perfect. Practice makes permanent.

If you never make a mistake then you will never make a mistake. So... ones practices so slowly that one cannot possibly make a mistake.

Amateurs practice until they get it right. Professionals practice until they can't get it wrong.

later...


Develop infallible technique and then lay yourself at the mercy of inspiration. - Anon.

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#17 2009-02-19 09:40:40

Rick Riekert
Member
Registered: 2008-03-13
Posts: 100

Re: Practice Quotes

I’m a beginner, hence a lousy player. I take lessons bi-weekly and practice slavishly the techniques and pieces I’m taught. I practice daily with focused attention in a quiet room for about an hour. My teacher says I’m doing fine and I enjoy that hour. Though I see and certainly hear nothing I could identify as perfection in my practice routine, I believe I’m doing the best I can. I suppose I could burn some incense, though. Is there any chance I will be able to raise myself to the giddy height of perfection in my playing, or am I doomed to remain a poor player who struts and frets his hour upon the stage..?


Mastery does not lay in the mastery of technique, but in penetrating the heart of the music. However, he who has not mastered the technique will not penetrate the heart of the music.
~ Hisamatsu Fûyô

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#18 2009-02-19 10:36:25

Bruce Hunter
Member
From: Apple Valley CA
Registered: 2005-10-10
Posts: 258

Re: Practice Quotes

Hi Rick!

Perfection may be over-rated. After all, once one attains it, what's left? Some of us concentrate on the journey rather than the destination, which allows us to concentrate on what we're doing instead of the place where we aren't. Incense is good, midnight oil is better. 8^) But seriously, sometimes several short practice sessions can be more productive than a long session. Don't know much about giddy heights, but Cicero has it that "Dum spiro, spero - While I breathe, I hope."

later...


Develop infallible technique and then lay yourself at the mercy of inspiration. - Anon.

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#19 2009-02-19 11:29:14

Jim Thompson
Moderator
From: Santa Monica, California
Registered: 2007-11-28
Posts: 421

Re: Practice Quotes

Rick Riekert wrote:

and I enjoy that hour.

There's the core of the whole deal right there. A couple of thoughts about perfection. Perfection is something we strive for knowing we won't get there but we benefit greatly from trying. As far as reaching the other shore goes, to quote somebody, there is no other shore. Enjoy the swim. Take joy in your small victories and keep piling them up. Let the big picture take care of itself.

                                                                Blow on
                                                                  Jim


" Who do you trust , me or your own eyes?" - Groucho Marx

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#20 2009-02-19 12:59:42

Rick Riekert
Member
Registered: 2008-03-13
Posts: 100

Re: Practice Quotes

Jim, I can't say I've ever striven for perfection in any significant activity I've pursued, simply because I have no idea what it means to do so. I'm not sure even the great Vince Lombardi knew what he meant when he said that only perfect practice makes perfect. His Packers were superior but flawed, so I conclude either they didn't know how to practice perfectly or wouldn't. Though in fairness to coach Lombardi, it's not clear whether he meant that perfection is unobtainable without perfect practice or that perfection is the inevitable outcome of perfect practice. I certainly wouldn't waste my time striving for a goal I knew to be unreachable, though as you say the activity the goal is thought to presuppose may be worthwhile for its own sake.


Mastery does not lay in the mastery of technique, but in penetrating the heart of the music. However, he who has not mastered the technique will not penetrate the heart of the music.
~ Hisamatsu Fûyô

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#21 2009-02-19 13:21:43

chikuzen
Dai Shihan/Dokyoku
From: Cleveland Heights,OH 44118
Registered: 2005-10-24
Posts: 402
Website

Re: Practice Quotes

Rick Riekert wrote:

Though I see and certainly hear nothing I could identify as perfection in my practice routine, I believe I’m doing the best I can. I suppose I could burn some incense, though. Is there any chance I will be able to raise myself to the giddy height of perfection in my playing, or am I doomed to remain a poor player who struts and frets his hour upon the stage..?

Rick, it seems that what you're expressing is an dissatisfaction with the momentary state of things and your progress? That's good. Always wanting to get "better", whatever that means? Maybe it means something is going in a good direction? That part of your practice may be hard for you to see and evaluate sometimes. You said you play 1 hr. a day? Let's pretend that it's a given that you are practing well. Then isn't two hr. a day of good practice better than one?  When all is said and done (that is, hearing the quotes of famous people, which are also helpful for sure), they are all practicing many hours a day. And being at the same place as you are now is why they got better. They learned how to practice well and they did it for long hrs. They also did it for long hr. and so learned how to practice well. They also had the desire to do whatever it takes. Try practicing more. If you eat, sleep & drink shakuhachi for a while, then things will change. Just do your best.

   Also, the word or the existence of  "Perfection" depends on you and therefore includes you. So you have an image in your mind of what you are striving for and if you don't attain it, what you got instead was the "real" thing instead of the "perfect" thing? That's something you can deal with in an effective way.  If you're trying to do isolated techniques then you can use such words as perfection but it still depends on you and the flute you are playing. You can get the timing of a song better, and the pitches can always get better, koro koro better, etc. etc. Since there's no end, like Jim & Bruce said, it's about the journey. Destinations are temporary illusions unless they are moment to moment to moment to moment. The memories/images of what our teachers do/did and also what other great players do/did help us in perspective in many ways but don't get hung up on one word.

   Incense?  If it doesn't bother you I guess it's ok. I wouldn't focus on it though. Just focus on practicing. I get a dry mouth when I burn it.


Michael Chikuzen Gould

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#22 2009-02-19 14:06:30

Rick Riekert
Member
Registered: 2008-03-13
Posts: 100

Re: Practice Quotes

Actually Michael, I am by no means dissatisfied with my playing or for that matter with anything else in my life. Two hours of practice a day would not be better for me since it would keep me from other activities that are of equal or greater importance. Would there were just a few more than 24 hours in a day! I have neither the temperament nor desire to eat, sleep, and drink shakuhachi, even for a while. For me, blowing the flute is part of a balanced life, not a matter of life and death or earning a living. As always, thanks for your thoughtful words.


Mastery does not lay in the mastery of technique, but in penetrating the heart of the music. However, he who has not mastered the technique will not penetrate the heart of the music.
~ Hisamatsu Fûyô

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#23 2009-02-19 14:36:05

chikuzen
Dai Shihan/Dokyoku
From: Cleveland Heights,OH 44118
Registered: 2005-10-24
Posts: 402
Website

Re: Practice Quotes

Rick, Sorry to be so off the mark. My misinterpretation. I guess I couldn't tell the tone of your voice in the previous post. Perhaps if I had read your last post before writing I wouldn't have written. I've been a Packers fan for 40 years.

Last edited by chikuzen (2009-02-19 14:42:42)


Michael Chikuzen Gould

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#24 2009-02-19 15:06:15

indigo
Member
From: Brooklyn, New York
Registered: 2005-10-19
Posts: 52

Re: Practice Quotes

saw this the other day or something like this

"the greater the body of knowledge, the longer the shoreline of the unknown"

nice to sense the negative space once in a while

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#25 2009-02-19 18:49:57

edosan
Edomologist
From: Salt Lake City
Registered: 2005-10-09
Posts: 2185

Re: Practice Quotes

chikuzen wrote:

I've been a Packers fan for 40 years.

Well, that right THERE's your problem  smile


Zen is not easy.
It takes effort to attain nothingness.
And then what do you have?
Bupkes.

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