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Do Not Mistake Activity for Progress: A Lesson for Musicians

The phrase “Do not mistake activity for progress” serves as a powerful reminder that being busy is not the same as being effective. Nowhere is this more relevant than in the life of a musician, where countless hours are spent practicing, refining technique, and mastering pieces. A romantic misconception persists, amongst musicians themselves as well as the general public, that musicians must spend hours and hours in the practice room to achieve perfection.

This article explores how the distinction between mere activity and genuine progress is particularly important for musicians, and how understanding this difference by employing focussed, thoughtful practice – quality rather than quantity – can lead to more productive and meaningful practice and results.

For many musicians, the act of practicing can become habitual. Sitting down you’re your instrument, playing through scales, or repeating pieces from memory may feel productive because it takes time and effort. But if these routines are executed without thoughtful engagement, they may offer little return in terms of technical and artistic development. In other words, you can be very active without actually improving. This is where the warning not to conflate activity with progress becomes critical. Just because a musician is practicing does not mean they are practicing well.

Effective practice requires focus, intention, and feedback. It’s not just about the quantity of time spent, but the quality of that time. For example, a violinist who practices a difficult passage for thirty minutes without addressing the underlying technical issues – such as bowing technique, intonation, or rhythm – is likely to repeat and reinforce mistakes. This is, in effect, simply “going through the motions” rather than engaging in deep, thoughtful, considered practicing. In contrast, a musician who spends just ten minutes isolating and correcting these problems may make far more progress. Thus, mindful, goal-oriented practice can achieve more in less time than mindless repetition.

The concept of deliberate practice, popularised by psychologist Anders Ericsson, is particularly useful in this context. Deliberate practice involves working just beyond one’s current abilities, identifying weaknesses, setting specific goals, and seeking constructive feedback. For musicians, this might mean slowing down a difficult section, using a metronome, recording oneself for critique, or working with a teacher, mentor or even a trusted colleague or friend to identify areas for improvement. Each of these activities is targeted and purposeful, aimed at achieving real growth rather than simply filling practice hours.

In addition, mistaking activity for progress can lead to frustration, burnout and even injury. (‘over-practicing’ is a real issue!). Musicians may feel that despite spending many hours practicing, they are not advancing, which can be discouraging and demotivating. Understanding that not all practice is equal allows you to assess the effectiveness of your practice routines and make the necessary adjustments. It encourages reflection, a crucial aspect of productive practicing: What am I trying to achieve? Is this exercise helping me reach that goal? What could I change to improve my results?

By focusing on the quality rather than the quantity of practice, musicians can ensure that their activity translates into meaningful progress. Ultimately, it is not how much one practices, but how one practices, that leads to mastery.

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The Collection (2015-25) by Fly On The Wall is a landmark 10-year documentary project by musician and filmmaker Stewart French.  This unique online exhibition offers an unfiltered glimpse behind the scenes with some of the world’s finest classical musicians – including Angela Hewitt and Marc-André Hamelin – captured raw and uncut. 

The Collection presents 56 curated films drawn from more than 300 behind-the-scenes shoots, including never-before-seen footage from the project’s extensive archives.  The final project presents a compelling collection of video portraits, documenting musicians doing what they do best – performing live – up close and under a microscope.

From early music ensembles to cabaret trios, classical guitar quartets to percussion collectives, the exhibition showcases over 40 artists across a broad stylistic spectrum. It’s a vivid portrait of classical music in the UK and Europe today, authentic, contemporary, and alive. Featured names include The King’s Singers, Steven Isserlis, Alina Ibragimova, Richard Goode, The Choir of Clare College Cambridge, La Nuova Musica, Colin Currie, and Boris Giltburg.

Filmed in a signature single-camera, handheld style, French’s approach brings viewers inside rarely seen spaces — iconic concert halls after dark, locked recording studios, and private rehearsal rooms.  Locations such as Wigmore Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Henry Wood Hall, and Ehrbar Saal emerge as characters in their own right, where inspiration, discipline, vulnerability and genius converge.

Accompanying each film is a written narrative offering behind-the-scenes insight and context, untold stories from deep within the creative process.

Blending cinematic long-take storytelling (think Sam Mendes’ 1917) with the intimacy of portrait photography, Stewart French’s films reject flashy edits in favour of immersive, emotionally charged moments. With over 20 years’ experience as a classical musician, producer, filmmaker and writer, his goal is to create a deeper connection between digital audiences and the visceral experience of live music.

French explains: “As a performer myself, I’ve always been drawn to the raw, unfiltered magic that happens behind closed doors — moments of focus, anticipation, creative flow.  With The Collection, I wanted to capture those flashes of vitality that sit at the very heart of music-making.”

Originally launched as a Classic FM series in 2016, Fly On The Wall has grown into one of the UK’s leading classical film producers.  Its work has been featured by BBC Newsnight, The Times, Gramophone, and BBC Music Magazine, with recordings featured in Apple Music’s front-page editorial.

Access the online exhibition at: https://theflyonthewallcollection.org

(Source: press release)

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“Schubert’s music is the most human that I know.” – Sir András Schiff, pianist

“I will never quite have the words to express what Schubert’s music has meant to me…and I will never stop looking for them. His ability to convey loneliness — and console in its wake — is perhaps his most ineffable quality…” – Jonathan Biss, pianist

Image credit Hadi Karimi

Schubert’s music provides the bridge between the classical and romantic eras. Yet his music was not well known during his lifetime outside of Schubert’s own intimate circle of friends. His piano music was largely neglected right up to the early part of the 20th century when it was given the attention it deserved by pianists such as Artur Schnabel, who can be partly credited for introducing it into the regular concert repertoire with pieces such as the late piano sonatas, the two sets of Impromptus, the Moments Musicaux, and the “Wanderer fantasie”. Today, these works are staples of the pianist’s repertoire, much loved by performers and audiences alike.

Schubert’s musical sensibilities and invention were inspired by the human voice – he wrote over 600 songs – and lyrical melody and long-spung cantabile lines are distinctive elements of all his music.

For the pianist, his music remains an interpretational challenge and the best Schubert players have absorbed the essentials from his songs and chamber music. Because of his proximity, and admiration for Beethoven, there is a tendency among some players to approach his music like Beethoven’s; but Schubert is a composer who speaks more quietly and introspectively, even in his more declamatory moments. The skill in playing his music well is a sensitivity to these aspects without sentimentality.

British pianist Clifford Curzon (1907-1982) had a special affinity for Schubert, fostered by his studies with Artur Schnabel. His performance of Schubert’s last sonata, the D960 in B-flat, is considered by many to be one of the greatest performances ever. In this recording, his concentration and nervous intensity are so palpable it is almost like eavesdropping.

Clifford Curzon Plays Schubert’s Piano Sonata in B-flat major, D.960

A protégé of the great Russian pianist Sviatoslav Richter, himself a fine Schubert player, Russian pianist Elisabeth Leonskaja is noted for her performances and recordings of Schubert’s piano music. As an artist, she is unfailingly intelligent, tasteful and musical, whose performances display great refinement, romantic fervour, delicacy, and power, all underpinned by commanding technique.

Franz Schubert: Fantasy in C Major, Op. 15, D. 760, “Wandererfantasie” – Allegro con fuoco ma non troppo (Elisabeth Leonskaja, piano)

No appraisal of Schubert pianists would be complete with András Schiff, who really honours every work, and who has recorded the piano music on Schubert-era instruments, offering listeners an intriguing insight into the range of colours and nuances afforded by Schubert’s writing. Always fastidious in his close attention to the details of the score, Schiff really gets to the heart, soul, and fundamental humanity of Schubert in his playing and brings a compelling intimacy to his performances, even in the largest of concert halls.

The great Romanian pianist Radu Lupu, who died in April 2022, was described by Gramophone magazine as “A lyricist in a thousand”, who placed Schubert’s music at the centre of his repertoire throughout his career. Sensitive to Schubert’s mercurial moods, his playing demonstrates immense control, subtlety of shading and dynamic nuance, an almost ethereal luminosity of sound, and a myriad range of colours which fully reveals Schubert’s inventiveness and imagination, the rich seam of his ideas, and his forward vision.

Like András Schiff, Mitsuko Uchida has an unerring ability to bring an intimacy and sense of a conversation to her performances of Schubert’s music, and she does so with clarity, commitment, and a clear sense of the narrative line, the lightness and lyricism, and also the roughness in his music. Uchida is very alert to Schubert’s idiosyncrasies, his chiaruscuro and elusive, shifting moods: beauty and delicacy, poignancy and loneliness abound in her performances of this composer whose music has been a lifelong presence for her.

Other fine Schubert players to explore include Shura Cherkassy, Rudolf Firkusny, Walter Gieseking, Rudolf Serkin, Wilhelm Kempf, Paul Lewis, Maria João Pires, Alexander Lonquich, Imogen Cooper, Krystian Zimerman, Murray Perahia, and of course Alfred Brendel. Of the younger generation, recent discoveries include Inon Barnatan, Yehuda Inbar, Pavel Kolesnikov and Samson Tsoy

An earlier version of this article appeared on the InterludeHK website

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The fifth Young Artist Showcase concert, hosted by Chamber Music Weymouth (formerly Weymouth Lunchtime Chamber Concerts) took place at St Mary’s Church, Weymouth, on Sunday 6 July.

Devised by CMW Artistic Director and concert pianist Duncan Honeybourne and Concerts Manager Frances Wilson, these events offer young musicians who are still in full-time education or are just embarking on a professional career the opportunity to perform in a formal concert setting. They also offer audiences a chance to enjoy a range of music, performed by these talented young people.

This year’s concert included a varied and impressive range of music and talents. Opening with Michael Howell, a composer and singer from West London who was a finalist in Channel 4’s The Piano (season 2), the audience were treated to Michael’s own compositions, which blend influences from both classical music (especially Bach) and jazz, together with his extraordinary, other-worldly countertenor voice.

The Alma Trio from Poole/Bournemouth impressed with their confidence and musical maturity in Rachmaninoff’s Trio élégiaque No. 1. It was especially fitting that this work, written when the composer was just 18, yet already showing immense talent and emotional depth, was performed by a trio of very poised young musicians of a similar age and equal talent. All three are heading to music college in the autumn.

Edie Wells, a pianist studying with Duncan Honeybourne at the University of Southampton, treated us to her Diploma programme, which presented a range of music, from Bach to Gershwin, and allowed Edie to showcase her ability to handle works of different styles and eras. I particularly enjoyed her Beethoven (Piano Sonata in E major, Op 14, No 1), but the highlights were the two pieces by George Gershwin: the romantic The Man I Love followed by I Got Rhythmn, which got the audience’s feet tapping!

Finally, Lia Matos Wunderlich, a prize-winning teenage cellist who performed in the CMW Young Artist Showcase in 2024, gave a vibrant, heartfelt performance of Schumann’s Adagio and Allegro op.70, accompanied by Duncan Honeybourne (with whom she studies piano at the Junior Royal Academy of Music). Ending with a spirited flourish, Lia brought this splendid recital to a close.

Michael Howell
Lia Matos Wunderlich

Chamber Music Weymouth was founded in 2002 by Duncan Honeybourne. Monthly lunchtime concerts take place in St Mary’s Church in the centre of Weymouth, together with a short summer season of Sunday concerts. Find out more here