When I was 18 years old, I quit university to dedicate myself to music exclusively. I had been studying piano and cello since I was 8 or 9 but had only gotten more seriously interested, if not confident, as I got older. I studied at the Conservatory of Music in Maracaibo (Venezuela), a revered institution among all musicians in the city. Apart from some serious heartbreak that I was going through at the time, those months of intense focus and dedication to my instruments were some of the most satisfying of my life. I gave myself a rigorous practice schedule and took to it almost immediately. Discipline can give you great pleasure, in particular through the feeling of mental and physical control it gives you. Every day, the slowly won victories–mastering a difficult exercise, moving from painfully learning a piece to being able to play it with feeling–gave me hope and kept me going.

Continue reading ➞ Whiplash Offers a Dazzling but Flawed Tune