Albert Schweitzer on Attention and Gratitude in Daily Practice

Tuesday Quotes are short explorations of music, life, and the daily endeavor of practicing classical guitar. Find more here. Enjoy!

“In the hopes of reaching the moon men fail to see the flowers that blossom at their feet.”

Albert Schweitzer

As we progress as musicians, we tackle the big new pieces. We learn the new finger acrobatic exercises. We challenge ourselves in new ways and at new levels.

And this is good. We need to ride the edge of “hard, but not too hard” to get better. And this includes learning pieces that stretch us.

But as we focus on the future and dive into large projects (or large for us, where we currently are), it’s easy to forget what Schweitzer calls “the flowers that bloom at our feet”.

These are the treasures we can enjoy right now, in this moment.

We can be grateful for the opportunity to explore such a beautiful instrument, and such beautiful music. We can note the joys of feeling our fingers on the strings. We can relish the current “problem” or challenge.

It’s easy to become so focused on the end result, that we forget to actually hear the sound coming out of our instrument.

This is a duality we can work on. We can learn to hold both sides: first, the moonshots and horizons, and second, the magic and marvel of daily practice.

Hi, I’m Allen Mathews.

I started as a folk guitarist, then fell in love with classical guitar in my 20’s. Despite a lot of practice and schooling, I still couldn’t get my music to flow well. I struggled with excess tension. My music sounded forced. And my hands and body were often sore. I got frustrated, and couldn’t see the way forward. Then, over the next decade, I studied with two other stellar teachers – one focused on the technical movements, and one on the musical (he was a concert pianist). In time, I came to discover a new set of formulas and movements. These brought new life and vitality to my practice. Now I help guitarists find more comfort and flow in their music, so they play more beautifully.
Click here for a sample formula.

Life is good, still enjoying [The Woodshed Program], the progress is life altering, I love it. The physical challenges of my situation have rained havoc for over half my life. In spite of those little pests this 40$ Yamaha classical who needed a new home and your course has given me the "part the clouds for the sun to shine through" outlook. You see, even when I am unable to play I know she patiently waits for my return as I do. A giant void in my journey was filled with light.

~ Ken Montz

-Ken Montz

Those videos on practicing the piece were just awesome, Allen! I've always thought that learning songs might be something completely different than practicing exercises, but the way you teach it makes it much easier than I thought. I'm positive that joining the Woodshed has been the best investment I've ever done for learning the classical guitar. Thank you so much for these lessons.

~ Ulysses Alexandre Alves

-Ulysses Alexandre Alves