Too much freshly-written music goes unplayed and unheard, too few people go to free recitals because they imagine that something free might not be worth their time, and too many young people who ask our advice, advice that we give freely, don’t listen.

This comes from a post written a month ago ago by Elaine Fine on her very thoughtful blog Musical Assumptions. I’ve been meaning to write a post commenting on this but something always seemed to demand my attention. My apologies Elaine.

My experience with music has always been about the thrill of the performance and the satisfaction of writing music. As I’ve matured I’ve been able to marry this with the joy that I get from being a teacher. The problem, as Elaine so eloquently stated, is that much of the energy that we as musicians and teachers exert seems to go for naught.

However, when the great performance does come along, or more importantly a student makes a connection or gets a flash of insight, it nourishes the soul and provides the motivation to continue, often far out of proportion with the reality of the situation.

If you play golf, you know what I mean. You can have a round of 100 strokes, but it’s the one or two magical shots that you remember an hour after the clubs are back in the garage.