I bittersweetly finished the Art of Possibility today. The quote on the front cover states that it will improve your health and it delivered. I can't say enough positive things about how it helped me open up to the possible.
In conveying one story, Ben Zander described the students not playing by memory, but by heart.
In my musical life I had always used these word interchangeably. "I have to play this piece from memory" or "I can play the piece by heart". I had used both of these words heart and memory as synonyms for one another for as long as I can remember. It was like a giant light bulb going on when I realized they are referring to different things.
One is to play the technical aspects of the music. To get the notes and rhythms right. You intentionally set out to memorize the music. To play by heart is to play into the emotion and connection of the music. You can still play by heart even without all of the right notes. Playing by heart is also something that comes to you. It isn't something you can work on except to help yourself open up to being one with the emotion of the piece and humanity in general.
Being a Force for Good 