Play Music Better is the debut publication from Fiona Berry – a Trinity College London examiner, experienced adjudicator, and teacher of several instruments for over 25 years. The book is self-published under the banner Learn Music Together, which is also the name of Berry's website and her online community of adult learners, the Learn Music Together Academy.
The book shares practice tips ‘with a holistic approach that combines the mind, body and heart for any adult learning to play an instrument’. Berry outlines the reasons for focusing on adult learners in an early chapter, explaining that ‘most advice on the internet, and within tutor books, doesn't consider that adults learn differently from children’. With refreshing honesty, she addresses the various challenges that adults face learning instruments, both in terms of time commitment and the many psychological differences between adult and child learners.
Play Music Better is divided into five sections, each representing the five stages of the ‘musical road map’ Berry uses in her online academy: practice and routines; prepare in advance; practice progression; perceive and conquer; and perform and grow. Set out over 300 A5 pages, the text is interspersed with helpful diagrams, sketched images, and musical examples (many highlighted or annotated). The layout is perhaps not as slick as similar books from big-budget publishers, but this can be forgiven seeing as Berry's work is self-published – certainly no mean feat. As a bonus, those purchasing the book also receive free access to an audiobook version and supplementary online videos and resources.
Relevant for adult learners and teachers alike, the book provides a comprehensive guide to the mental and practical building blocks that enable productive and rewarding practice, ranging from how to structure practice sessions, warming up, and the importance of good posture, to musical problem solving and overcoming anxiety surrounding sharing your music with others. As Berry observes, ‘adults can, at times, throw in the towel too soon or let their frustrations take over’. However, with these excellent practice tips and thoughtful explanations as to why this might be the case, hopefully more adult learners can enjoy their practice and reap the widespread benefits it brings.
