If you play music a lot, you need to find a way to keep it from becoming stale. I’ve read interviews with guitarists B.B. King and Eric Clapton where the interviewer asked them separately, “How do you keep your music fresh?”
What interested me most was that they both gave what was essentially the same answer, but from opposite points of view. One of them ( I forget who said what) said, “I play every song like it’s the first time I’ve ever played it.” The other replied, “I play every song like it’s the last time I’ll ever play it.”
You can tell that they’re both aiming for the same thing: How to really savor the musical moment. If you can value and savor the moment, the music will remain fresh, no matter how many times you’ve played the same song before.
I’ll add a third option which works for me: Play every song like it’s the only time you’ll ever play it.
So there you have it; 3 options for keeping your music perpetually fresh. Take your pick.
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