How metaphors can improve musical practice
Metaphors, descriptive visual comparisons, can inspire understanding of stylistic and technical details in ways that more direct descriptions cannot.
I first began to appreciate the power of metaphors to help musical practice when my daughter was learning the the Martini Gavotte in Book 3 of the violin repertoire. Martini Gavotte is what I like to call a “death trap.” It’s in a rondeau form with lots of material between appearances of the theme. And there are lots of ways to go off-the-tracks. In desperation, I had her assign animals to each section and weave a story about how the central character - a little dachshund named…
