The Mind Over Finger Podcast - 052 Demarre McGill: The Master Keys - Discipline, Spirit, Energy, Beauty & Patience

Starting point is 00:00:00 You're listening to the Mind Over Finger Podcast, episode number 52. Welcome to the Mind Over Finger Podcast, discussions on mindful music making, efficient practice, and building a purposeful career. And now, your host, Dr. Renée Paul Gaultier. Hi, everyone. In this week's episode, I speak with Damari McGill, Principal Flute with the Seattle Symphony. Damari has gained international recognition as a soloist, recitalist, chamber, and orchestral musician. Winner of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Sphinx Medal of Excellence, He's appeared as soloists with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Seattle, Pittsburgh, Dallas, Grand Park, San Diego, and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras, and at age 15, the Chicago Symphony.

Starting point is 00:01:02 Before taking his position in Seattle, DiMare served as principal flute of the Dallas Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Florida Orchestra, and Santa Fe Opera Orchestra, and he recently served as acting principal flute of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Damare is also a respected and intimate educator. He's the Associate Professor of Flute at Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. He's an artist, faculty member of the Aspen Music Festival and School, and he's coached and presented masterclasses throughout the world. In our conversation, Damari talks to us about the building blocks of efficient and mental practice, which are having discipline, nurturing energy, focusing on beauty, and applying patience. Damari also elaborates on the importance of being an excellent colleague, always providing musical context when we're trying to fix technical issues, focusing on the music to get in the right headspace for a performance, confronting the things we're not comfortable with in preparation for performance, not giving up in the face of rejection,

Starting point is 00:02:12 and staying hungry in order to grow. There's great information and much inspiration coming your way, and I hope you enjoy and find value in our discussion. Let's go to the show. Damare McGill, so wonderful to have you on the show today. It's great to be here with you. Damare, you have an impressive journey behind you. In addition to being principal flute of the Seattle Symphony. You perform as a soloist with major orchestras and play recital and chamber music concerts with highly recognized musicians in the best halls. And I love that you're from

Starting point is 00:02:58 Chicago because that's where I live now. Can we please begin with your story in your own words? Yes. Well, I started playing the flute when I was seven, when my parents were dating some years before I was born, they would have parties, jam sessions, and my mother would sing, my father would play African wooden flute. And I believe before they were married, my mother bought my father a used silver-plated instrument, flute. And that was the instrument that I found. After that, there was a series of really fortunate incidents. For instance, my mother did research at high school she was teaching at you know on flute teachers and just by chance there was a flutist primarily jazz flutist but a flutist nevertheless who lived around the corner from me on the south

Starting point is 00:03:57 side of Chicago which was just very very fortunate I had the privilege of being a part of and being enrolled in some fantastic institutions the Merritt School of Music which still is a wonderful wonderful organization that provides musical opportunities, lessons, classes, ensemble opportunities for, you know, a wide variety of young musicians, including those from the inner city. So, you know, I really, I give a lot of credit to my parents putting in the time and doing the research to carve out the path for me at the beginning. And so much credit to the institutions that I was fortunate enough to be a part of early on to really set a great foundation for what would be, you know, my life's passion.

Starting point is 00:04:53 And what happened after Merritt? Where did that take you? After Merritt, I ended up studying with an amazing teacher in Chicago, Susan Levitin, who still has a wonderful flute studio. And that was important. I mean, she was such a great teacher, had such a great studio and just being surrounded by such you know high level flutists at that time or actually at any time is is so beneficial because it forces you as long as you're you know you have some commitment to this particular path if you if you want to get better then you should be around the best and I really felt that I was around the best during that time And so I studied with her maybe six or so years up until I was accepted into the Curtis Institute of Music when I was 16.

Starting point is 00:05:50 I guess I started a few days after I turned 17, which was, of course, absolutely life altering. I should say even before that, another great institution, the Chicago Youth Symphony, I was a part of. And one name I didn't mention that I absolutely have to mention was a very important guide on my path to get to where I am today is a teacher named Barry Elmore, who influenced positively my life and so many other kids growing up in the south side of Chicago. He was a music teacher in my elementary school who I'm still in contact with today. He was such a wonderful mentor and a provider of opportunity for children who weren't really born in a typical classical music environment. And I mean that in a very, well, broad, actually a very specific sense. Growing up on the south side of Chicago, you wouldn't think it's not the center of the classical music universe. But it felt that way for me because of these very important people that I met early, early on.

Starting point is 00:07:01 So after I left Chicago, I went to the Curtis Institute of Music, studied with Julius Baker and principal flutist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Jeffrey Kaner, both wonderful, wonderful teachers that I learned, I mean, really so much from. And it was, I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to have, I've had both of them in my life during a very crucial time, you know, the time that is not too far from, from being a real, you know, an adult and ideally at that time, you know, a professional musician, that was the goal. And they were just, they were wonderful, wonderful mentors, wonderful teachers. After Curtis, I went to the Juilliard School in New York, continuing my studies with Julius Baker. And then from that point on, it was the initial struggle of trying to carve my path as a professional musician. And just the continuation of that from that time to the present. I mean, it's been quite an amazing, wonderful, diverse, in a way, journey that I am for sure grateful for. You mentioned Susan Levitt, and I love that you mention her in your bio on your website, because I find that so oftentimes we talk, you know, I was talking to another guest, we were talking about the finishers, the teachers that we have in college and subsequently, but so often we don't mention the starters.

Starting point is 00:08:41 And they are so important because, as you said so well, they provide that environment that fosters that love and enthusiasm for music, as well as, of course, the strong foundations that are necessary. But I love the fact that you really take the time to mention them and that, you know, it's very inspiring for us to see the long effect that these peoples have in our lives. Oh, absolutely. Without her and before her, without Mr. Barry Elmore. And there's a list of people. Without them, none of this is possible. I mean, that's just the way it is. I mean, by the time we get into college, we're really, really not that far away from the lives that a lot of us want to have. So it really helps to have as much in place as possible beforehand. And the people that were my mentors before, for instance, going to Curtis were absolutely, you know, instrumental in making that happen. And speaking of mentors, as I've said, Damari, you have a really impressive performance track record. And I know that today we can learn a ton of tips and tricks and get some amazing insight from the performer that you are, but that's only a part of what you do. You're also a very busy teacher with a big studio, and I'd love for us to discuss practicing and performing with Damari, the pedagogue, as well.

Starting point is 00:10:29 So I was wondering, if I ask your students what sentence or advice is repeated the most in Damari's studio, what would they say? Oh, boy. Well, what would they say? in one sentence i'll do my best to try to try to put words in their mouth but um so i think that the one thing in in so many words that they would say that i would say is that i'm a real believer in discipline and i'm a real believer in in in spirit and energy um just the discipline alone for me is is pointless and just the spirit and the energy uh alone can possibly be reckless so you know tons of discipline and just inject that with more energy than you can imagine that's

Starting point is 00:11:29 that's kind of sums i would say sums me up and sums what i i i hope to draw out of my students just the discipline the focus to accomplish the goals that you you have set for yourself and the energy uh to to not only achieve those goals but to to do to to do this go through this process as passionately as possible um i would say that discipline and spirit that's really great it's really exactly the essence of it all and it's so true what you say you need both absolutely yes so that's important i also make it very clear to my students that when they're out in the real world and the real world to me is any any situation that that they're in musically that i'm not involved in so that could even be a rehearsal at school at ccm the college

Starting point is 00:12:32 conservatory of music at the university of cincinnati um that i want people to after hearing them play to to come up to them say who do you study with you know and they say professor mcgill and i want them i really i want the response to be of course you see you because you play beautifully and i can see that you're loving it and i can see that you're a wonderful colleague those are those are the things that i want to be very apparent and and all of my students just beautiful playing and being a beautiful colleague and enjoying it you know i would have accomplished I feel so much of indeed every one of my students was able to exhibit those those traits those qualities when they're out in the world I totally agree with you too because the

Starting point is 00:13:30 classical music field can appear so austere and competitive and cutthroat but it really is when we have this spirit of collaboration with our colleagues that we really transcend even our own playing, I would say this is when we can really play our best and we're in the most efficient head space to accomplish great work and great music making. Yes, that's absolutely right. And I'm a strong believer in meeting your colleagues to be really good. You want your colleagues to be great. If you want to be great, you need to surround yourself with great people. So encourage the person sitting next to you either via your words or through your own playing to be the best version of themselves if you want to be the best version of yourself

Starting point is 00:14:25 any kind of negativity is not going to to necessarily help you. I mean, you can work so hard without putting the other person down. For me, that's wasted energy. And being that energy, that passion is a very important part of any formula that I have,

Starting point is 00:14:53 passion, energy with discipline. you don't want to waste your energy and your passion putting someone else down when in fact the better they are the better you'll be I love that topic if that's okay I'd like to take you back to maybe a more down-to-earth topic what are some mindsets and strategies that you think students should adopt to really accomplish efficient work in the practice room well one thing is it's i believe patience um you know so many students of course hear about you know slow practice slow practice you gotta practice slow uh but i have found that there's a lot of us that don't really understand what that means so

Starting point is 00:15:53 i think it's useful to keep in mind that in my opinion um we should we should play for instance our fast music exactly how we play that music when we're playing it slowly what i notice is that if i have a student slow it down you know we actually take this passage slowly they will play it exactly how they played it fast which is um with absolutely zero musical sense or sensitivity when we actually when you practice slowly you should be playing gorgeously beautifully whatever that means in the context of that piece and then you play it like that quickly um as opposed to bringing the nothingness that that that was a part of the music when you played it quickly into the slow practice do the opposite learn the music

Starting point is 00:16:54 the soul of the music i believe is absolute it's absolutely discovered when you actually slow it down you can if you listen carefully you can i mean everything you can really see the face of the music when when it's magnified when it's really slowed down so that you can know how to play it when you play it fast so just having the patience to do that also means that you can learn music super fast. You're not wasting any time. Another thing that I would suggest is to really get to know your playing. I happen to record myself a lot. I'm a serial recorder. I want to know how I sound in any given situation. I want to know how I sound when I'm exhausted, when I'm not in a great mood. Um, you know, I want to know how I sound when I think I I'm sounding good.

Starting point is 00:17:52 You know, I, this way, even when I'm in a high stress situation, I can, even if I'm really nervous or experiencing some self doubt, I know my play. I know what I sound like when I'm in this environment already. And that frees me up to just, you know, get out of my head and to do what I should be doing. And what I love to love to do is to, you know, to make beautiful music and to create an environment where you're able as a listener to hopefully enjoy this music with me. So those two things, just patience in the practice, getting to the soul of the music via slow practice, and really getting to know your own playing intimately and honestly. Those two things right there

Starting point is 00:18:51 are very important tools, I believe, to progress. I could not agree more with you. It's true, sometimes we tell students to practice slowly, but they don't really understand what that means. So they play slowly, but exactly in the way that you describe where it's slow, but still not very good right and what you're saying about recording is so true I think for me I find that that's kind of at least one of the best practice technique that carries well into high pressure performance situations for sure absolutely it's good to know you're playing I believe that for the most part we all have very good taste or we sure act like it when we listen to other people You know, and so it's extremely helpful to use that good taste on yourself, which, you know, oftentimes the people that have the loudest voices when it comes to their opinions about the world, you know, really refuse to actually use those same eyes and ears and even voice to make themselves better.

Starting point is 00:20:03 And that's just a waste. what about some ways to practice frustrating passages specific exercises well you know i don't believe that i overused the word beauty i don't think that beautiful has to be pretty beautiful doesn't necessarily even have to be perfect it's more of an intent to say something in a way that I, the listener, will be able to understand clearly what you're saying. And I hesitate to use the word even technical passages. I don't really believe in technical passages. I believe in, as I mentioned before, this idea of finding the soul of the music, finding

Starting point is 00:20:51 the soul of the passage. How can we make this passage sound, with my definition of beauty, as beautiful as possible? How can we phrase this so that it's very clear what we're trying to actually do with this music? Like, when you do that, and for instance, if you take a so-called technical passage and you think this way, you think melodically, you think that these are all syllables that are part of words that will actually make this a coherent sentence, musically speaking, then as soon as you think that melodically and not technically, it becomes easier for you because it gives context and meaning to what can be you know otherwise a random group of notes yeah that's i mean i try if something is giving you a hard time play it beautifully slowly and

Starting point is 00:21:52 as you speed up the tempo do not change how you're doing it if you're going to change anything then play it more beautifully even more beautifully do what happens is that you practice beautifully slowly and then at a certain tempo you drop everything that you've been working on even if you've been playing it beautifully slowly you drop it all and you just simply start to play fast you know you should be playing it as beautifully as you were playing when you're working on it slowly just simply at a faster tempo if you're able to do that i find at least with my teaching um it's things are almost immediately improved the set expression if you change the way you look at things the things you look at change and i i believe that's really really important

Starting point is 00:22:39 in music a lot of it i mean we a lot of times we have all of the tools that we need to to really bring this music to life i mean that musically and you know in quotes technically but we get in our we get in the way of what we're capable of we've been i mean even if you're playing been playing for five years and you've been putting in consistent work you already have so much information yeah to play things very well so any difficulties you may have have may have to do with how you're actually viewing the the problem it's so true what you're saying and i don't know how it translates on the flute but i know that for us string players there's so often this habit of compartmentalizing things where if you're you have a fast passage with a lot of action in the left

Starting point is 00:23:35 hand i can say students but maybe i do that too sometimes less and less so though as i age but we tend to forget about bow technique which is where all the most of the musicality comes from And if you take the music out of the execution, then you're not really working. You're not really working on what's on the page. And the result is just not the same as when you take it back to incorporating the beautiful sound, beautiful bow, a thoughtful approach to bow management and all this. and you infuse this musicality the left hand problems come together so much more quickly right yeah that's exactly it i i just find you have to you have to provide context to these issues that you're working on we have to provide context issues that we work on um otherwise you're i mean you're you're struggling with with something um and in a way that doesn't really utilize the the tools that you already have at your disposal

Starting point is 00:24:48 like I mean if you keep in context that for instance you're trying to play poetically this very difficult technical passage I believe that you'll actually find the the way to playing that passage well a lot sooner if you keep it in its proper context as opposed to just isolating fingers you know which um i mean which means absolutely nothing but if you're working on the music and you're trying to play it beautifully um in a very uh deliberate uh disciplined way then of course the the fingers will be there and the music will as well this makes me think about a theme that seems to really come back a lot in all of these conversations i'm having here on the podcast and the term of intention in practice and in playing seems to come back

Starting point is 00:25:52 so much, both in setting the intention of what we want to work on before the practice session, but also having a really clear idea of what we're trying to play, have a clear concept of the sound that we want to hear, this whole thing about having very strong intentions. And one thing I talk a lot about to my students and really try to have as a practice for myself is something I call priming which is where before practice starts to have some sort of preparation mental or physical and I know that some days it's going to look like just maybe a 30 second brainstorm on what I need to practice on that day or if I'm preparing for a big audition it can turn into a one hour regimen of yoga and meditation and breathing and you know things like this but do you have

Starting point is 00:26:50 a certain approach to getting in a headspace before you practice um for for me i am simply trying to get to where i need to be as quickly as possible so prior to just my like a personal like practice session it's pretty easy for me to get in the zone i need to be in to accomplish what needs to be accomplished i mean i even when a piece is fresh i am already looking for the soul of this music i am immediately i'm trying to really find a way to make this music shine you know to to make this this particular work sound gorgeous so that's all i really need to do i mean That's almost enough. That's my specific goal. And I'm working towards that. If it's something like preparing for an audition or something maybe a little bit more high stress, I do spend time away from the instrument just in my otherwise kind of just normal existence. I'm trying to feel how I will feel when I'm in that environment.

Starting point is 00:28:24 You know, I don't like surprises. I want to go into any given musical situation feeling as in control as possible. And this allows me to better deal with the things that may happen that are outside of my control. And the one thing that really helps with that is, is, you know, is visualizing that particular thing happening. I definitely do that. I want to run to the thing that would make me nervous, you know, and not shy away from it, not turn my head to it. I want to look at it in the face and really confront it so that I'm very comfortable with doing that by the time I'm actually in that environment. That's the one thing that has proved to be useful in my existence, just the desire to confront these high-stress situations. even i mean for very selfish reasons as well because i i know that once that really once that situation is done with i'm much stronger i'm much better so you know bring it on

Starting point is 00:29:48 yeah i would i would say that if you're able to do some version of that anything you're able to do to simply maybe even be yourself in a high stress situation be as much like you yourself you know like how you were last tuesday in the practice room as possible it's going to be very useful to you when you're actually in that high stress situation yeah i love everything that you're saying so much and how you insist on this beauty that you're talking about and really incorporating the musicianship at every steps because someone can use all of the the practice technique that we know metronome whatever but if the intention is not there if the the goal to serve music is not there all of these very very essential things that you mentioned it just won't be the same and

Starting point is 00:30:47 you know it for me it all it kind of makes me think a little bit before i take you to the rapid fire question around this whole thing about those essential things. And you talked about your mentors and Barry Elmore and Susan Levitin, and you mentioned CYSO. And that makes me think about the CD that just came out with your brother, Anthony, who was also a guest on the podcast last season called Wind Creature that you guys recorded with CYSO. And I think it's such a wonderful way to give back and inspire these young musicians and i feel like it ties in so nicely with all of these things that we're talking about right now can you talk to me a little bit about that project and that recording yes so this latest album i recorded with my brother anthony

Starting point is 00:31:42 and the chicago youth symphony was i mean it was it was amazing this is an this is an ensemble an organization that we grew up in that definitely provided our first opportunities to tour. I remember being young and going to Japan, touring Europe with the youth orchestra. It was an opportunity for us to be around some of the best young musicians in the Chicago area to work with a wonderful conductor and so to to go back in and record with with our youth orchestra was just i mean you know it's so cliche to say but it was really a full circle um they were the orchestra is as good as ever the they were so excited to be a part of this project just as we were and it's i already know that it's a you know it's it was an experience

Starting point is 00:32:55 that they will never forget because i i have never forgotten my youth orchestra experiences you know like that so it was amazing just to to to be a part of something that will uh be an important part of their lives and i have to say that it's it's it was an equally feel-good experience for the both of us to work to to do this this recording with them you know it's you know especially to do to record two works that were written written for us um as well as works that anthony and i have played over the years and you know to our delight it's it's nice to know that oh yeah we're playing this better than we did 20 years ago that's always nice to know but it's just yeah it was definitely a project that i'm extremely extremely proud of

Starting point is 00:33:55 tamari how about a round of rapid fire questions okay let's do it what's your favorite tool in the practice room um metronome also my favorite and for the people who are dreaming of a career that maybe resemble yours can you tell us a little bit about what your life looks like oh um well they're they're really no days off um well it's let's see um um let's see like five days of the out of the week four or five days i'm playing with the seattle seattle symphony um if i have a couple of days off i need two days off which i typically do um i'll take a red eye flight after the concert the seattle symphony concert and i'll fly to cincinnati and uh between and i'll arrive and i'll start teaching i'll teach all day that day the next day i'll teach all day and typically

Starting point is 00:34:59 then i'm gonna i'm done teaching at six and i have 6 p.m and i have a 7 12 p.m plane to catch so i could put it very close but uh yes but in that period of time i i teach my 21 students plus an hour of studio class um other other other weeks like this past week like i would piggyback the sense of cincinnati teaching on to you know like chamber music or recitals like i just gave a recital in new york taught in cincinnati then flew to new york to play some chamber music um then i fly here and go to rehearsal and then after this i'll fly back to cincinnati and then after cincinnati for instance then i'll go to colorado to do like a residency of sorts um in boulder give a recital talk to a class do private lessons teach a master

Starting point is 00:36:01 class then fly back to cincinnati and then fly back to seattle to play um but it's it's a really it's a mixed bag and they're all super important to me the you know the orchestra life the the teaching life and i guess you can call it the extracurricular musical life solos you know recitals chamber music that was definitely not a rapid fire answer to your question but um it's yeah there's not a lot of there's not there's not a lot of downtime i feel like i should put your email address in the show notes so people can send you like starbucks gift cards and massage gift certificates yeah i would take it i would take it this is impressive what skills do you think young musicians studying today should acquire

Starting point is 00:36:50 in addition to learning to play their instruments they should i i believe that young old every musician should think about ways that they can use their music to to make um make their community a better place um so that means that even if you know if you want to be an orchestral musician and you're auditioning and you haven't been able to win an orchestra job if you if you think along the lines of how can i actually be a positive contributor to to my environment um with this this gift that i have then you will end up doing something that's hopefully sincere that will that will keep you motivated you know that will actually hopefully better at least the the day in the life of of someone that is hearing you um but i yes just the just thinking

Starting point is 00:37:59 about that focusing on how can i actually do something positive for my my community and then you may actually if you you've had this particular goal you may actually discover another passion that you would never have discovered if you were only thinking about yourself. That's really excellent. What doubts or resistance have you had to face on this journey? Well, you, at least I can say that most people I know, most people I know who are successful, maybe not everyone, but most, for sure, would agree that you receive more no's than you receive yes's, for sure.

Starting point is 00:38:51 There's a lot of rejection. And if you still put yourself out there, then that never changes at all at least i've discovered that it doesn't matter so um yeah i mean i tend not to shy away from from that and that's that has been helpful and useful in my in my life because no matter what you want to do if you if you receive like 50 no's and but you get this one yes oh then all's well you know and if you keep on going if if you if you if you continue to suck up the nose but also you know a few yeses that's called progress you know i didn't need to win every audition i just needed to win the florida orchestra the san diego symphony the seattle symphony the dallas symphony you know like i i um and then back to the seattle symphony

Starting point is 00:40:05 which i re-auditioned for i just but it seems like a bunch but there were so many more no's so many more uh sorries you know so yes rejection is absolutely a part of it but after each one if you pick yourself up you are really that much you're that much stronger you're that much better if you just keep on going you already mentioned discipline energy and spirit which i love and you just talked about handling rejections or sorries but is there also another habit that you have that you think has contributed to your success well i can say one thing that has contributed to my success is is well it is connected to energy but it's um it's really my desire to grow really like i um i would say that if you think of it in terms of just being hungry

Starting point is 00:41:10 for something i am just as hungry as i've always been like if if i feel that like this is something that that will make me better i will i will do it and i will work really really hard for it you know and it doesn't matter if if it doesn't matter if it ends up in a no you know or the rejection i will i i will really i can it's helped over the years that i can be really really focused i can be really really focused so just that part of my personality has has come in come in in handy that's such a great answer i'm so happy i asked that question damari what's a quick actionable tip that listeners could implement today in their musical lives well anyone who's who's playing an instrument or you know singing can right now

Starting point is 00:42:23 today try to sound like their favorite person their favorite instrumentals if you're a flutist try to sound, I mean, you're not going to sound like that person, but try to play on that level right now. You know, I love witnessing people play something after I really try to get them in that mindset. You know, it's really using, as I mentioned earlier, the tools that you already have. Try to play like the greats right now. Don't wait. It doesn't, even if you're in high school and you have name your favorite your favorite violinist your favorite clarinetist or was a flutist singer and try to be like them right now you're not going to be copying them you'll be channeling them and i think just that very thought will actually immediately

Starting point is 00:43:14 allow you to be the best version of yourself because you already know you already have And understand what a high level of music making is in your head. You already know. We listen to so much music. We know what's really good. So why not try to be that now? So, yeah, I would recommend that. Such great advice.

Starting point is 00:43:41 Damari, thank you so much for this gift of your time in your very busy schedule and this insight and this really awesome dose of inspiration. I really appreciate it. And I know that my listeners will walk away energized and, you know, full of spirit and inspired. Well, it's such a pleasure talking to you. This is great to talk about these kind of beautiful things. So it's really my pleasure.

Starting point is 00:44:19 Thank you guys so much for listening. I hope you enjoyed this conversation with Damari McGill. I resonated with so many things he said, and I think we really have to keep those fundamentals in mind, and I would even say close to our hearts when we practice. We want to have discipline, not something rigid and austere, but something grounded in our love of music and our excitement for our own growth as an artist.

Starting point is 00:44:48 We also want to nurture that spirit and that energy he mentions, keep things interesting by being interested in the music, in our journey, and in all the extraordinary possibilities available to us. We want to focus on beauty at all times. As we discussed, it doesn't just make things more enjoyable, but that's really when true progress and a higher level of artistry are achieved. And finally, patience. The patience to build solid foundations, to tackle issues at the source, to take the time to ask questions, to look for answers, to explore options, and to work on excellent skills. When we have those things in mind and at heart, we can learn so much faster and perform so much better. So that's what I have for you guys today. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider sharing with a friend that you think might benefit from our conversation. And please share your favorite takeaways with Damara and I by taking a screenshot, sharing on Instagram and tagging us. I'm Mind Over Finger and he's Damara McGill. As always, you can find the show notes for this episode, more information about Damare, and more resources on mindful and deliberate practice at mindoverfinger.com. You can also join my Facebook tribe at facebook.com slash groups slash mindoverfingertribe, where I pop in once a week for live videos answering your questions.

Starting point is 00:46:24 And if you're looking for the perfect tool to start applying more mindfulness and patience in your practice, visit mindoverfinger.com and sign up for my newsletter to get your free guide to a super productive practice using the metronome. This guide is the perfect entry point to help you learn faster and achieve more efficiency into your practice, and it's filled with tips and tricks on how to use that wonderful tool to take your practicing and your playing to new heights. Again, thank you, and à bientôt!

The Mind Over Finger Podcast - 052 Demarre McGill: The Master Keys - Discipline, Spirit, Energy, Beauty & Patience

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