Welcome to Music Teachers Insightful Practices (MTIPS) Newsletter!
Written and Published by Nicholas Ambrosino
www.musicsimplymusic.com
director@musicsimplymusic.com

October 5, 2003

Table of Contents:

1. MTIPS Theme
2. Welcome Notes
3. MTIPS Development
4. Notable Quotables

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1. MTIPS Theme

Changing the quality of your questions will change the quality of your answers and of your life.

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2. Welcome Notes

Welcome to Music Teachers Insightful Practices (MTIPS) Newsletter!

Thank you to all who wrote me after the last newsletter! It is always promising to find that you find MTIPS valuable!

39 more subscribers to go! MTIPS is going out to 561 subscribers as of this issue! Would you help me reach my 2003 goal of 600 subscribes and take a moment to forward this issue to anyone whom would benefit from a positive ezine to assist them in utilizing their fullest potentials as teachers and students? Thanks!

And finally, a warm welcome to all of our new subscribers. My goal is to provide you with practical tips and insights that will make your career or education in music, more fulfilling, rewarding and enjoyable. Please feel free to contact me if you would like to see a certain topic covered in an upcoming issue of MTIPS. My email address is editor@musicsimplymusic.com

NEW FREE REPORT! “The Untuned Singer” 
http://www.musicsimplymusic.com and follow the links to the FREE report page. This page is only accessible if you are a registered MTIPS subscriber. We have lots of information, and resources you can use. We’re constantly adding and up-dating, so check it often!

Be sure to check our web site at:
http://www.musicsimplymusic.com
We have lots of information, and resources you can use. We’re constantly adding and up-dating, so check it often!

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3. MTIPS Development

I was recently reading a “solve the mystery” story with my oldest daughter. Brianna and I were enjoying a wonderful Saturday afternoon on the porch swing, reading and searching the text for clues. The mystery was solved when we re-punctuated a letter shown in the story so that it had an entirely different meaning than the one with which it started. This got me to thinking about communication and how delicate our language is. 

Your brain will seek to find the answers to any questions that you allow it to ponder. The question, “Why can’t I do this” might yield the answer, “Because I don’t have the education”, or “Because I wasn’t born with the talent”. And when you finish answering the question, you are no closer to accomplishing your task than you were before you posed the inquiry. As a matter of fact you are probably further away, because now, you feel down about yourself and your abilities! 

Instead, try this question on for size. “How can I do this?” While on the exterior it may appear to be very similar to the original question, it is, in fact, 180 degrees different. “How can I do this?” causes your mind to go into a different mode. Instead of telling you why you can’t, it will seek out the solutions you need to accomplish your goal! 

I once read about a famous marketing person, who, when creating a marketing campaign that needed to utilize the services of a famous person, let’s say Joe Torre from the New York Yankees (yes, I am a Yankee fan! Go Yankees!) would ask everyone he came in contact with one question. Can you guess what the question was? He asked, “Who do you know who knows Joe Torre?” The amazing thing was that usually within his first 10 inquiries he was able to get to a person who knew a person who knew Joe Torre, all because of the quality of his question!

So, when either you or your student is stuck on a problem, musical or otherwise, instead of finding out why you can’t do something, instead ask you brain to find out how you can do it! Changing the quality of your questions will change the quality of your answers and of your life.

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4. Notable Quotable

If you can walk you can dance, if you can talk, you can sing.

Zimbabwean proverb

Copyright © 2003 Nicholas Ambrosino. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to reproduce, copy or distribute MTIPS so long as this copyright notice and full contact information about the author is attached. The author of this issue is Nicholas Ambrosino and he may be contacted at director@musicsimplymusic.com or reached by telephone at 631-863-2069

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