Beethoven is teaching me a lot! I’ve recently come to understand the very real truth of something that I’ve preached all of my life. You’ve probably used the same phrase before. Do you remember that old phrase “practice makes perfect”? Well recently I have been putting that phrase to work in one one particular discipline in my life and I’ve realized that it applies to a lot more than just music. It applies to life.

For a number of years I have honed my skills at keyboard improvisation and am pretty comfortable doing that. That’s when you take a melody that everyone knows and change the harmony around it or “dress it up” using your own unique style of playing. But while my improvistation skills have improved, my sightreading skills have not been as strong as I would like for them to be. Why? I haven’t spent time sightreading piano accompaniments or other piano pieces nearly as much as I have worked on improvisation.

In light of that I have been trying, lately, to really strengthen my piano skills, particularly in the area of sightreading and technique.  The only way to do that is, you guessed it, “Practice, practice, practice.” (After all, isn’t that how you get to Carnegie Hall?) I said that Beethoven is teaching me a lot. Well, I’m working on a Beethoven Piano Sonata that has some particularly difficult passages in it in terms of fingering patterns and have had to really break the passages down into bite-sized pieces to work out those fingering patterns. Once I have done that the section of the piece I am working on seems to fall together a lot more quickly. One day I’ll have that sonata learned, but not until I’ve put in a lot of hard work. Practice makes perfect.

I’m discovering that it’s the same in every discipline we undertake. I’m also working on losing some weight right now, but if I don’t “practice” the good habits that I know to be healthy then my weight loss really slows down to a crawl and maybe I even regain a pound or two. One day I’ll lose the weight, but not until I’ve “practiced” what I know to do. Practice makes perfect.

In my personal Bible study times I’ve found that I get a lot more accomplished if I study some every day rather than try to study for hours at a time on one day to “make up for lost time.” I’ve learned that’s one thing you just can’t do. Once time is lost, it’s lost. There is no “making up.” One day I’ll look back and realize how much I’ve grown in understanding God’s word, only if I “practice” the habit of daily Bible study. Practice makes perfect.

I also love to write and journal and I find that writing on a regular basis keeps me in a writing groove, but if I just wait “until I have time” I get writer’s block and the ideas don’t flow so well. One day I’ll finish that proverbial book that everyone wants to write, but only if I make time to “practice” my writing skills. Practice makes perfect.

What’s my point? The point is that regularly scheduled time spent doing the things that are important to you yield a lot more results than trying to get it all done at once and then not touching it for a while. Yes, practice does make perfect in so many ways. Indeed, when we “practice” the things that Jesus taught us to do in passages like the Sermon on the Mount then we achieve the end result of becoming more like Him. And isn’t that what we all are seeking? Practice makes perfect.

That prompts a question…how does one live an abundant, spirit-filled life? Practice, practice, practice!

Thanks, Beethoven! What a great lesson!

Advertisement