Completing a lengthy call to BT to initiate new login details, the engineer asked me with great intensity whether I was satisfied with ‘the service he had provided me with today’.  He went on to scrutinise every aspect of the help he had given me, seeking my assurance that in each area he had demonstrated […]

While few would dispute the importance of investing time within their practice to ensure dependable and secure technique will support their playing. The same could not be said for recognising the role of self-worth and self-belief as equally important not only to the health and wellbeing of the player, but as pivotal in securing a […]

I have long struggled with the word ‘perfect’ and if I am honest have had a love hate relationship with how its meaning plays in my life. Partly because as a word in the context it is so often used, it has no defined meaning which frustrates me. Added to this is the power it […]

Perspective could be compared to the lens through which we see ourselves and the world which will be heavily influenced by so many factors. Some from external experience and some internal  workings of our emotional sense of self which combined will effect how we think and what we do. It is an almost indisputable fact […]

Even beyond the world of music and the arts intuition is regarded as the jewel in performance that far supersedes the value placed on a reasoned and calculated response. Yet in the grip of what might be thought of as an intuitive response, why would the idea of applying some scrutiny be considered as somehow […]

There are many everyday terms which can collectively mean the same thing: to be ‘under the influence of’, ‘at the effect of’ or ‘under the spell of’. Within an inspirational book Thinking; fast and slow, Daniel Kahneman refers to this external or internal influence as Biased Anchoring. This term I feel, really encapsulates the idea […]

Many people will have experienced the emotional effects resulting from the anticipation of an impending task or event. Irrespective of whether the task or event was set by you or willingly accepted from another, in every sense you have taken ownership in a spirit of committed agreement. That is the assumption, but not always the […]

There is a very fine line between optimism and a sugar-coated reality. Too much of one and not another of the other can in a multitude of different settings, tip the balance irrevocably compromising a reasonable attitude to be maintained. Embarking on a new performance project, technical challenge or even getting an instrument out of […]

Integrity is our carbon footprint through life, to realise in our thoughts, the words we speak, the actions which follow and the notes we play, each placed always with the greatest care. Striving with determination and integrity in all our endeavours whether personal or professional, ensuring our carbon footprint contributes to a more tolerant, kinder […]

What do intonation and politics have in common in what should be their fundamental objective and of highest importance?  Not being right but being in tune. Surely that must be our moral for life. Shana Tova!