Growing Your Sense of Discipline

It seems to me discipline has gotten a bad rap over the years. Often today it’s seen as a sentence to drudgery, to self-containment, and obligation.

Well, my friend, I don’t see it that way.

It’s like the difference between real gold and ‘fool’s gold.’ Where there’s real discipline there is intelligence and growth. Where the counterfeit exists, there is narrow-mindedness and rigidity.

At the Masterclass/Seminar this past weekend the difference became crystal clear. There it was seen, in no uncertain terms, that the empty application of time and repetition produced dismal and fruitless results.

In other words, a practice discipline without real discernment and acute interest was worse than wasting time.

One is like piling sand around a fruit tree that is in need of nutrients. The useless sand then has to be cleared away before wholesome fertilizer will reach deep into the soil and lead to a bountiful yield.

Fortunately, once the counterfeit is unmasked, it is not difficult to get yourself back on track.

This past weekend we took an up close and personal look a what self-observation is all about. When I talked about ‘Eureka’ moments yesterday, this was one of them, big time.

You see, though everyone had watched my instructional DVDs many times over before coming to the class, there was evident a lack of in depth self-observation on the part of most attendees during practice. This frustrated the internalization of what had been witnessed.

When, in Kreutzer, Vol. 1, I went on about detache being accomplished by first an action of the tricep, and then an action of the bicep, it required a deep act of self-examination to discover and disarm ALL other muscle groups. This is only accomplished by taking a CLOSE look at the arm movements. The kind of close look you get with a powerful microscope when looking at a single cell.

Even once it was done on a single note, played slowly several times, the self-discipline then had to be extended and increased to maintain that newly acquired motion during the playing of actual music.

But let me tell you, watching and listening to the results was magic.

What I’m getting at here is to take my instruction and demonstrations on the DVDs as a jumping off point for self-observation. Slow things down. Take the time to check in with every muscle of your body, turning off those you don’t absolutely require, and infusing the ones you do need with the vitality of your breath.

Now that’s an exercise of true discipline.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. As always, I leave you with a link to click on if you’re just now making the decision to join in the fun.