Practice makes progress
1/22/08
This weekend I’ve been singing in 2 performances of the African Sanctus by David Fanshawe. It’s an amazing piece of music that consists of tape recordings of indigenous music from Africa recorded by the composer, layered with live percussion, electric guitars, piano and a chorus singing a unique setting of the Latin mass. What fun it all was!
The chorus has been rehearsing since September to learn this music that takes less than an hour to sing. In the many hours on stage this last week, I had time to ponder how similar the process of rehearsal for a musical performance is to the process of practicing for this bike ride. In both cases, there are technical skills to learn from music theory and vocal technique to pedal strokes and bike mechanics. In each case, hydration is an issue as is body position and stamina. You have to learn the skills involved but then comes putting it all together with practice so that the skills become innate and the experience of the music-making or the bike ride becomes ingrained into the mind and body.
A couple of weeks ago, I did get outside for 3 rides in relatively balmy 30 degree temperatures. This week, Hank wants me to do two or three more but now the temps have dropped. Time to add more layers and get back into the rhythm of more intensive training. I’ll still have music in my life but now it’s the background to my time on my bike.
