No Practice Required

The words, "No Practice Required" first made me smile. How silly is that? And what fun would that be? I was standing in the music store pouring over books of piano arrangements. Finding the right style, selection, and level of difficulty requires serious contemplation. As I glanced through the pages, I mentally played the melodies,looking for challenging arpeggios and pleasing chord progressions.

No Practice Required? What is that about? The excitement is taking the book home, opening its cover, and devouring it tune by tune. Sure, you want some easy ones to keep you going. But if they are all easy, you wasted your money. The tough ones with promise and intrigue keep you coming back to practice hour after hour ----conquering the mountain of musical performance.

My mind wandered to the conference room populated with marketing geniuses. "Hey, if we promise they will play like Dino or Kurt Kaiser, but won't have to practice, these books will just fly off the shelves!"

Who buys this line? Have you ever known anyone who played the piano without practice? You didn't want to listen to them very long. I think it was Rubinstein who said, "I miss practice one day and I know; I miss two days and my coach knows; I miss three days and the whole world knows." My piano playing sadly misses the Rubinstein mark, but it still requires practice.

What about the diet fad several years ago touting, "Eat what you want - forget about exercising - just take this pill at bedtime and you will have to wear a nametag for others to recognize you!" Maybe I exaggerate a bit, but the ads always fascinated me. Something for nothing spelled trouble as I grew up. We eagerly embrace expectation without exertion.

Today we buried my Dad. But we didn't put his values and his character to rest....they live on in our family. "Paying the price" was nearly as important to the Smith clan as "being a blessing." Luck was where hard work and opportunity intersected.

But the marketing eye-catcher made me stop and think. Where am I looking for an easy win? Do I expect deep relationships without investing myself? Do I long for a svelte figure while consuming too many calories? Do I yearn for intimacy with God while waving to Him on the way out the door?

What I deemed silliness and a sure recipe for mediocrity convicted me.

No Practice Required? What a shame ---- the joy of accomplishment is unknotting the dilemma, resolving the nagging problem, disciplining aging fingers to create musical nuances.
"Forget that noise," my Dad used to say.

Hand me a piece of music which stimulates my brain, exercises my eye/hand coordination, stretches my emotional base, and causes others to worship. None of this pre-chewed junk for me!