It’s taken a few days to actually get around to writing this review of a book that had long been on my TBR, but I never found the time to pull the trigger. Now that I have read the book, I understand what the fuss has always been about and why it is treasured and lauded by so many musicians. It’s definitely a book that I anticipate revisiting again in the future.
A Soprano on Her Hand is not necessarily intended to be read from cover to cover. It is better described as a collection of essays reflecting on issues that are common to performers of all kinds — performance anxiety, unwanted tension, dialogues with inner judges, forgetting the joy of playing. Ristad writes in a humorous manner balanced with musical authority that is very assessable by all readers. In many ways, the book reminds me of The Inner Game of Music by Barry Green.
I’m glad I read the book. I’ll have to revisit and meditate on many of the ideas presented here in the months ahead. For now, I’m looking forward to getting back to my regular reading of fiction.
Reading for Me 
It’s amazing, though, how often we can observe students who are paralyzed or otherwise crippled in playing freely because of those judges on their shoulders. Westney required me to read that ‘way back when. Changed my whole outlook!
I have found myself enjoying the process much more since finishing this read. Those judges can continue to pop up for a lifetime. I really need to read Westney’s book as well. I’ve liked the passages that I’ve read a lot.