Live From Neil's Man Cave Studio
So this is how it goes.
Neil Laurence and I are rehearsing a few times a week for four or five hours at a stretch in his home recording studio getting ready to begin performing together in front of people here in Asheville - two seasoned men on their ukes. The whole process makes me very aware once again of the value and absolute necessity of the discipline of practice.
Practice makes perfect. How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice.
There is no substitute for practice. Neil told me about country guitar virtuoso Chet Atkins. Why do we know his name? He practiced guitar 4 hours a day.
I've only been playing my new Kala U Bass for a month, but already there is a small shiny smudge forming on the spruce face of the uke above the strings from constantly resting my right hand there to pluck the strings, physical evidence of my dedication to practice.
I can easily trace my acquiring the skill of practice because it came at at substantial investment in time - studying Martial Arts for 15 years. It was worth every minute and it not only was great physical exercise, the practice of Tae Kwon Do either alone, with my daughters, or in class as a student and teacher benefited my brain in positive ways that I hadn't anticipated. I highly recommend the practice of martial arts, any martial art, to anyone, at any age, at any time. It will change your life and your brain in wonderful, unexpected ways.
But, so will the study of music. I am proof of that.
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