Proof of Progress

In setting up this site, I went through several of my old recordings, trying to decide which ones to upload and post. I was able to listen to my progress from my junior year of high school to today, and I was amazed by how different I sounded even a year ago. And that first recording from my junior year didn't sound like me at all.

There was a time when I got very discouraged with practicing, and almost gave up on music altogether. I was pushing myself to practice for six hours every day, and I wasn't learning a single thing. Nothing seemed to change. I wondered if I was unintelligent or untalented, and if I should just give up.

After two and a half years of being away from that situation, I can listen to these recordings and realize how much I've grown in technical ability and musical philosophy. Although it still needs (and will always need) improvement, I have a much more refined sensitivity to musicality. The very ideal of what I want my overall sound to be has changed.

We use recordings for different things: practice reference, archiving for posterity, and commercial interests, to name a few. But they can also be a great source of encouragement, and proof of progress. If you feel like you've hit a plateau, listen to how you sounded a year, two years, even seven years ago, and hear what a difference there is between each one. I guarantee you'll be surprised, as I was.

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