Martha G.

Martha was clear in her assignments to me. For example, a page of her notes would look something like this:

• Practice the first page out of the sixths book.

• D major scale- focusing on listening to the notes ringing and at quarter equals 60.

• Practice these specific measures in your concerto. Do not move on until you can play them by memory.

• Listen to your recordings.

So I would go home and guess what I would do? Practice. But it was like a psychotic person who had fifteen cups of coffee scrambling to get everything done. I practiced my concerto at a tempo that was way too fast and paid no attention to my intonation in my scale like I was in some race. I rarely listened to my pieces. I thought that was a waste of time. I would analyze my sonatas without the piano parts because I was too lazy to find the score. A sonata is a duet between two parts. You cannot just analyze one part. If I could go back in time and slap myself, I would. 

So of course Martha would be tilting her head and squinting her eyes at me in the next lesson when I sounded exactly the same as the week before. “So, what exactly did you practice last week?” she would ask. I sat there quietly trying to think of how to respond. Martha gave me the harsh truth: I didn’t practice well and I am wasting her time.

Martha was a saint. I don’t know why she put up with me for as long as she did, but I am so grateful for her. It took years and years after I studied with her to actually implement what she asked me to do in the lesson. You just never know when it will click for a student.