it appears to be some wooden structure…. perhaps a stage…

Well…

it’s a guitar… looking from the inside.

Incredible vision of the PHOTOGRAPHER: http://WWW.MIERSWA-KLUSKA.DE FROM MUNICH

who took these pictures for the Chamber Music project of the Berlin Philharmonic -

“Closer to the classical chamber music of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.”

Here are couple of more:

Creativity at its best.

Bravo!

Mikhail Istomin

Mikhail Baryshnikov, and one of his comments really made a lot of sense for me as a musician.

The dancers have to be relentless in shaping their bodies and minds in pursuit of the  results they envision.

In the interview Baryshnikov said, “In dance you are trained to identify the wrong stuff   and get rid of it: the line of your body, or a clumsiness of movement.”

Tom Wolfe’s book The Right Stuff said that the first American astronauts had to possess the mindset and skills known as the right stuff to make it into the space program.
I love the notion from Mikhail Baryshnikov that if I get rid of the wrong stuff, the desired right stuff is what will remain!

Years ago I read about a business principle that helped sort out the good stuff from the bad..

It’s called the Pareto principle or the 80-20 rule and named after an Italian economist, Vilfredo Pareto, who back in 1906 noticed that 20% of the pea pods in his garden contained 80% of the peas!

Well… you might say… how is it relevant to me??

If you think about it you would probably agree with me that like Pareto, 20% of your daily activities produce about 80% of the real tangible results in developing your technique, musicianship etc..
In short, the “building blocks” of your music career.
And that’s the right stuff!

I suggest that you devote one hour per day for at least one week having a frank and honest discussion with yourself about what has become the wrong stuff in your practicing/playing/studying.

Whether in the world of dance or music, it all comes down to your personal vision and its clarity.

Another legendary artistic figure’s advice sends us down the same path as Baryshnikov.

Michelangelo said, “I saw an angel in the block of marble and I just chiseled ’til I set him free.”

Use this upcoming Summer to take your hammer and chisel to the wrong stuff!

Here are some of Baryshnikov’s amazing “flying” leaps…

MI

A common trait among successful people is their ability to get things done.

Successful people are not easily distracted and often say “no”
to anything and anyone who stands between them and
what’s important to them.

They never have excuses and are willing to do whatever it takes;
one of which is waking up earlier than most people.

There is a lot that can and should be done before checking your email or
wasting precious time on Facebook in the morning…

Here’s a short list:

Work out/exercise
Think
Read/Listen to positive messages
Plan/create your day, week
Do your first practice session of the day

You can do most or all of this and all you have to do is wake up just one hour earlier each day.

Sure, you may have to go to bed earlier and
maybe even miss your favorite T.V. show
but what really has T.V. done for your life???

There is plenty of time to do what is important.
All you have to do is give up what isn’t,
wake up just 1 hour earlier
and experience the most peaceful time of day.

Doing that will add 7 quality! hours to your week and a will give you a
strong feeling of progress and achievement.

Make it a habit and you will be far ahead of your competition!

MI

Now, how many among those young adults are musicians, dancers, artists?
It’s statistics hard to find, but I can tell you for sure that absolute majority of them were
not taught anything about finances, marketing,
“real life” survival skills to get through the tough economic times
and years of job searching process..

Here at ChamberMusicPro.com we are committed to help young musicians to acquire those necessary skills!

This year we added several new bonuses for 2012 Seminar participants –> HERE <–

Mikhail Istomin

This is THE BEST modern day documentary on currencies, financial history, and gold and silver that I’ve ever seen… (and I have seen a lot of…) I highly recommend that you watch it immediately, and share it with everyone you know…

In a nutshell, you procrastinate when you put off things that you should be focusing on right now,
usually in favor of doing something that is more enjoyable or that you’re more comfortable doing.

According to psychologist Professor Clarry Lay, a prominent writer on procrastination,
procrastination occurs when there’s “a temporal gap between intended behavior and enacted behavior.”
That is, procrastination is occurring when there’s a significant time period
between when people intend to do a job, and when they actually do it.…

Say you get up in the morning and decide to start practicing your instrument right away….
but than you get destructed by a text message…. than decide to check you FB wall…
etc…etc…etc.. So that “gap” mentioned above getting bigger and bigger.

How to Overcome Procrastination

Follow these steps to deal with and control procrastination:

Step 1: Recognize That You’re Procrastinating

- If you’re honest with yourself, you probably know when you’re procrastinating

Step 2: Work Out WHY You’re Procrastinating

- One reason for procrastination is that people find a particular job unpleasant, and try to avoid it because of that.

- Another cause is that people are disorganized.
Organized people manage to fend of the temptation to procrastinate,
because they will have things like prioritized to-do lists and schedules.

- One final major cause of procrastination is having underdeveloped decision-making skills.
If you simply can’t decide what to do, you’re likely to put off taking action in case you do the wrong thing.

Step 3:  Anti-Procrastination Strategies

Procrastination is a habit.
That means that you won’t just break it overnight.
Habits only stop being habits when you have persistently stopped practicing them.

These general tips will help motivate you to get moving:

• Make up your own rewards. For example, promise yourself a piece of tasty pie at lunchtime if you’ve completed a certain task. And make sure you notice how good it feels to finish things!

• Ask someone else to check up on you. Peer pressure works! Get yourself an accountability partner and check on each other!

• Identify the unpleasant consequences of NOT doing the task ….like sounding really bad at your next recital or a jury

• Keep a To-Do list so that you can’t “conveniently” forget about unpleasant or overwhelming tasks.

• Become a master of scheduling and project planning, so that you know when to start those all-important projects.

• Set yourself time-bound goals: that way, you’ll have no time for procrastination!

• Focus on one task at a time. Multitasking is deadly detrimental to your success in music…

Part of the solution is to develop good time management. Well… actually it’s not time management, we can’t manage time…
we all get exactly same amount of time..
It’s self management what’s counts in the end!

Remember: the longer you can spend without procrastinating,
the greater your chances of breaking this destructive habit for good!

Check out this short video on the subject.

Looks like maybe someone you know….???

Mikhail Istomin

“When you’re not practicing, someone else is… ..And when you meet him, he will beat you!”

What a great quote from a book on martial arts.
Perfect for us musicians…

1. This Summer – PLAN!  FOCUS!  DISCONNECT!

Do you know why it’s hard?
Because you are not in Siberia (without the internet access)
It is practically impossible in our current environment not to be
constantly interrupted.

The biggest enemy of your progress is distraction.
This Summer (and always..) be fiercely focused and undistractible!

If you master focus, you will control your world
if you don’t learn to focus.. your world will always control you.

Think about it….

2. This Summer “stay in the shed”!

Find a place, where you can practice without interruption.
If that place is your home, make a sign and post it on your door:

“Please, do not interrupt me,
I am working on my amazing future!”

(or something like that )

Critical: Disconnect your phone and computer for the duration
of the practice session.

3. Nobody will teach you anything – you have to teach yourself.
Your teachers present the information – but it’s you who must utilize it!
“Squeeze” the knowledge out of the school/people/books/world around you…

Record your practicing. Especially video will give you more feedback…

4. Visit the book store and spend time in the isles of marketing, business and self improvement.

Learn about money.

Money is nothing more than a mutual proof that you are adding value to peoples lives.
In the future you will be compensated in direct proportion to the
value you will be bringing to the world…

For example…
How much money the world pays people who play video games – nothing
because everyone does it..
But, how much money world pays to people who makes video games… – ton of it!
Because only few can do it…

5. Be one of the few who knows how to help yourself!
Instead of waiting for others to do it for you..

Be one of the few this Summer who will stay “in the shed” ..
while most are surfing web, watching others achieving their dreams on tv instead of going for their own… and telling everyone that they are bored..

If you do all of above, you will emerge on the other side of this Summer as a winner!
You will set great pace for the new school year and proof to yourself…whatever it is you want to prove to yourself

Extreme results will not come to you without extreme actions!

Here for your success!,

Mikhail Istomin

p.s.  I will be helping everyone who is registered for 2011 Seminar to achieve maximum results this Summer by periodically sending suggestions, books to read, films to watch etc.. And than at the Seminar we will summarize everything and give you much more to take away!

“The board of the 111-year-old Philadelphia Orchestra Saturday voted in favor of Chapter 11, sources say.
Papers will be filed within hours or days in U.S. Bankruptcy Court,
Eastern District of Pennsylvania, asking for reorganization,
according to orchestra leaders.

The move makes the Philadelphia Orchestra the first major U.S. ensemble
known to file for bankruptcy, according to orchestra industry groups
and veteran observers…”

News like that make me work even harder in helping young musicians
to realize importance of developing entrepreneurial attitude and
business skills.

I believe it is just a beginning of bad news for the arts and music in this country.
Unfortunately!

Mikhail Istomin