Jonathan Sprout Musical Note 2023.03

Is music finding its way into your busy life?
 
For me, composing involves constant experimentation and refinement. My process involves working on a piece until I’ve taken it to a point of maximum satisfaction that matches my piano-playing ability. Then I move on to another composition, after which I sometimes realize that my playing has improved enough to warrant a new series of edits on the prior piece! Little by little, in this circular fashion, I nudge each of my compositions into a more polished form.

Since 2017, I’ve logged 1,590 hours on my piano composing and rehearsing. So far, I have 35 minutes of “finished” music in the form of 6 sonatas for the next Jonathan Sprout album.
 
Whatever it is you are passionate about, I encourage you to keep going! In Thomas Edison's words, “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”
 
It feels really good to see the progress. I spend more of my life measuring progress than appreciating final results. It’s the process—the building of it all—that I find so important.