because he/she plays the music until the music plays him/her!

              Practicing needn\'t ever be drudgery, nor lead to frustration. If you are bored and frustrated, there is something wrong with your procedure or attitude that needs to be altered. You are working with music - vibrations that can both stir and soothe your innermost being. This is the art that has been known for ages as the healer of both mental and physical strain; it is the art that furnishes food for the soul.

If you don\'t like the results you are getting, concentrate on your process: what you intend for that day\'s practice, and the steps you will take to reach those goals. Frustration arises when a hidden accountant in your brain begins to feel that a fair trial did not net a fair reward. That accountant is budget-wise, and you\'ve got to please him every day. To do this, you must target each repetition so that, however little, it moves ahead to score.

Pianists cannot tune their instruments before they play them, though they may wish they could. They can, however, take a moment to mentally and physically tune themselves. To get yourself in tune, sit quietly, close your eyes, and hear the music in your head in the very tempo, mood and manner you think the composer heard in his head. Give yourself entirely to this imagined sound. Let the swing and sway of its rhythm roll around inside you, until you sense yourself moving with it. You see, in order to play the music, you must first allow it to play you.

Such a meditation before you play tunes your mind, harmonizing its activity with bodily action. It also helps you find the right position at the piano. A good position incorporates the repose of the shoulders, the hand of the elbows, the balance of the wrists and the placement of the fingertips upon the keys. A good position also readies the body to respond to the nervous system. Physical tension blocks that freedom. Imbalance anywhere in the body can tighten muscles and interfere with the freedom to play. I think pianists miss the point when they try to control muscles directly. They cannot. It is better to imagine a desired muscular state and telegraph that thought through your verve network. Trust your muscles; they will respond with a coordination as fine as your vision. Picture, don\'t will, the movements you want your body to make.

Here are some ways for you to check your position at the piano and your readiness to move. I you are very tired, first stand up and stretch your muscles out, slowly twisting your arms.

1. Sit back and sit tall. Don\'t hug the keyboard. Squeeze in your bottom, and suck in your stomach, as if you\'re a jockey about to urge his horse over a hurdle.

2. Place your feet flat on the floor, heels lightly under the edge of your chair or bench. Let your feet feel the floor under you.

3. To free unconscious tension in your shoulders, inhale to fill your lungs. Hold that breath for five seconds, then exhale slowly, and feel your shoulders sinking slowly.

4. Rest your fingers lightly on the keys, and swing your elbows until they hang quietly in an imaginary sling.

5. Still touching the keys lightly, test your wrist with a small vertical motion. Let them settle midway between raised and sunken, either parallel with the key surfaces or up just enough to let the hands hang limply. Don\'t press the fingertips on the keys.

Once you are settled at the elbows and wrists, your arms will seem weightless; they are in balance. This is the feeling you must preserve as you play, and recover if you lose it. Elbows like lead, wrists like a feather.