Bluegrass, Bach and Brahms
Courtney Hartman is a Berklee College of Music songwriter taking traditional Bluegrass in a fresh direction.
She also plays in an award-winning quintet of women musicians.
Asked in an interview if she has any tips on practicing, she said this: “When I feel disconnected in my playing, it’s usually because my fingers are doing something that my head or my heart is not hearing or feeling.”
That sounds familiar.
When I feel disconnected in my praying, it’s usually because the words are saying something my head or my heart isn’t thinking or experiencing. That ever happen to you?
Courtney goes on to tell how she re-connects. “I might play something super slow.” You and I might read a Psalm “super slow.”
She continues, “I might play on just one string and then add another.” We might take one line of a traditional prayer, like The Lord’s Prayer, or even Psalm 23, and pray and meditate on just one sentence.
She begins to wrap up her answer, “Another thing I’ve been doing lately is listening to violin sonatas by Bach and Brahms.” We’ll pick up right there later.
Meanwhile, what do you do when you’re feeling disconnected in your praying?
joescheets 
This is interesting, both for the musician’s point of view, and the prayer comparison.
Usually, when I feel disconnected from the music, I just try to soldier on and “do it anyway,” trusting that tomorrow will be better – or the next day, or the next; that there is a point to all the practice, even if it doesn’t feel like it. Then again, sometime I take a day off, trusting that the break is a good thing.
Sometimes I’m just lazy and rebellious, and I quit for a while. I always regret this later; no amount of “feeling connected” can make up for lack of muscle tone in my embouchure or comfort with the quirks of the particular reed I’m playing on.
I’ll think some more about how this compares to my prayer life.
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Thank you very much, Nina, for this!
I’m looking forward to your further commentary; again, thank you.
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I agree. And the distance between Bach and Bluegrass isn’t as great as people think. I look forward to your next post.
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Larry – thank you for reading, and thank you for jumping in here. Greatly appreciated!
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I think it all comes down to love, both for music and for prayer.
Making music is great when everything’s coming together. But do I love it enough to struggle through the hard parts? To discipline myself to work out the stuff that doesn’t come easily? Or do I just give up?
Prayer is great when I’m feeling a deep connection to the Lord and my fellow worshippers. But do I love God enough to struggle through the times when I don’t feel connected? To stay faithful? Or do I just give up?
Seems to me that in both cases, the more I give up, the less I experience the joy that I’m looking for.
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