The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University

Habit vs. Comfort

When I was a masters student at Peabody,  Hal had me working on my vibrato, which was way too fast and uncontrolled, especially in thumb position.  It was incredibly frustrating work.  Playing with a slower, more relaxed vibrato felt so uncomfortable!  Plus, I had developed my whole sound concept in thumb position around my fast vibrato, and it just felt right.  When I slowed down the vibrato, things felt awkward and unnatural.  Fortunately, over time I kept working at it (thanks Hal) and it grew more and more comfortable, until ultimately, after many months of work, I realized that my vibrato had done a full 180 degree turn - now it was vibrating FAST that had become "unnatural," while a slower more relaxed vib was now what felt "natural" and right.

 This is a lesson that we all need to struggle with and ultimately accept.  Our bodies and muscles do things by habit and repetition.  This is a valuable survival trait in most areas (like, say, walking), but when we learn bad playing habits or realize that we need to expand our technical and musical options, we find that it works against us.  Over and over, we tend to return to existing habits unless we conciously and repeatedly correct and retrain our muscles and nerves into new habitual patterns.  Many students resist doing this kind of hard work, and they often invoke "comfort" as their justification.  It's true that habits are comfortable.  We don't have to think about and take responsibility for our actions if we only act by habit and instinct.  But we need to examine our habits and see if they are positive or a block to our musical growth.  If they are a block, we need to have the courage and commitment to step out of our habitual comfort zones, unlearn what holds us back and learn what makes us better musicians.