The teacher of whom I write opened my eyes to fact that acquiring a repertoire or playing a single piece was an accomplishment of an architectural sort - a thing built up piece by piece. Her first running over selection was like a builder studying over general plan. The practicing over and over again of one phrase was like laying of foundation, then each part was properly finished off before adding next. What she did with second, third, and remaining phrases was but a counterpart of her work on first.

When she had done all of that she laid aside notes and played piece from memory. And I could see value of each piece of preliminary work.

It reared up a perfect, finished structure, not poor patchwork of mistakes, glossing-over, and lovely embellished fakes of poor amateur musician-architect. When it was all over most of class went home to practice as rapidly as they could, and for first time they really knew how!

Photography is a common hobby or pastime for many people. It is a career for many other people. There are so many different venues of it. One of most recent revelations in photography is digital camera and digital photo. In an age of computers and computer technology, digital photos have become increasingly popular. People no longer have to deal with film and developing because digital photos can be downloaded onto a computer and viewed instantly.

Digital photos can be shared on web and through email. They can also be saved on CDs. Many digital cameras come with LCD screens so photos can be viewed from camera itself. You see what picture looks like instantly instead of waiting for developing. Digital cameras are advancing every day and new technology is released on each one. Lower quality ones can be picked up at a local retail store for about $15 now. These often do not contain flash and quality is not as great. Other digital cameras can range anywhere from $20 to $1,000. The most high-tech camera for normal individual use is about $200. This may seem like a lot but when compared to price of film and developing, you can save a lot by going this route. You can also send as many copies of your photos as you wish through email and web so copies are unlimited. You can even print copies of your digital photographs from your computer.

Photography has come a long way since its early days but its popularity has not waned. It will likely be with us for thousands of years to come.