Music Makes Miracles: Fill & Download for Free

It really depends on your goals.If you want to play just for fun, half an hour, 5 or 6 days a week would make miracles. The key is to practice smart (not necessarily hard). Small frequent bites throughout the day will be more beneficial than long hours once or twice a week.And if you intend to be a professional pianist, it will take you at least 3 hours a day, 7 days a week. The amount of time won’t actually be the most important aspect ever. You just need to be sure you’re reaching the music through all the most important perspectives for that piece. If you can do that in one hour, congrats. If you need 4 hours, just do it. But keep some time to read about music, listen to great interpreters and have a life full of great experiences. You need to live to play with art.

My light therapy lamp works miracles. I no longer even try to manage without it.Vitamin D is necessary, too.Snow is the traditional solution that wonderfully illuminates our dark world. It also enables us to enjoy darkness by making lanterns of snow or ice.(Photo source: Joulu - Tunturisuden Joulusivut)(Photo source: Jäälyhty tuo tunnelmaa talviseen puutarhaan)Unfortunately, climate change has turned our winters wetter and less white, which has impacts on mental health. One more reason to tackle climate change!Christmas coincides with the pagan midwinter festival, and for a reason: we who live here near the Arctic Circle really need some (de)light in the darkest time of the year, something to look forward to, something to celebrate.Traditionally it meant candle light, and that’s something I love to brighten my winters with. During the Advent, many people have candelabra with four candles, and as Advent progresses we light one more candle each week.(Photo source: Adventtikynttelikkö - 1. luukku)Nowadays it means that cities are decorated with Christmas lights since the end of November. Psychologically many people find it important, just like the many ways in which we celebrate Christmas weeks beforehand, including the workplace parties at the end of November and drinking lots of delicious glögi.[1]For me personally, something as simple as listening to Christmas music makes a difference, too. I used to sing in a children’s choir as a kid, and we started to practice our Christmas program already in October. As much as I dislike the commercial Christmas music that stores seem to start playing earlier each year that passes, I love the other kind of Christmas music: Medieval, simple, full of ancient light.Something like this:In many ways, cherishing darkness with these kinds of lovely details can be quite special and relaxing.Thanks for asking, Janie!Footnotes[1] Glögi - Wikipedia

Again, this is not a full match review, but here are some quick thoughts on the game:Who the hell is James Maddison?One of my favorite moments when watching football is finding a player I don’t know but who really catches my eye. I don’t follow much English football, so I had no idea about Leicester’s no. 10: a small, highly technical playmaker with good turn, ball control, first touch, line-breaking passing and even better movement in between the lines.James Maddison is one of Leicester’s new summer signings, and he was the key to getting Leicester's possession game to work, moving throughout the attacking front and in between the lines to link-up with everyone and create spaces.I loved his performance and we could clearly see a decline in Leicester's game when he was subbed out in the 2nd half. Maddison will be my excuse to tune into Leicester’s games from now on.Leicester’s possession game: who fits, who doesn’t?After Maddison, my favorite Leicester players in this game were the LB Ben Chilwell—always effective in his forward runs and linking up with Maddison and Gray—and midfielder Wilfred Ndidi—who often managed to move the team forward through his passing—and I also liked the ever skillful Gray and a persistent Pereira, who completed a solid EPL debut. These four along with Maguire and Madisson seem to be the better fit for the more possession-based ideas of Claude Puel.However, there are other players who don’t fit so well. In particular, I am worried about Adrien Silva, who's a bit slow on the ball, as well as Iheanacho and Vardy, who don't really participate too much or too well in link-up play.These issues were made worse by the early goal against, which forced Leicester to be fully proactive.The same underwhelming United…In this game, United confirmed preseason sensations: they are not playing better than last season.The Devils had a positive start, but after the early goal the team sat back and waited for Leicester to attack. The strength of Leicester’s Chilwell-Gray-Maddison triangle penalized this conservative decision during the 1st half, but United looked more solid during the 2nd half (Leicester subbing Maddison out helped).Right now, United seems to be embroiled in a negative feedback loop of negative emotions, conservative tactics and poor offensive structure, and this makes it hard to get the best out of midfielders and forwards.Alexis, Fred and Rashford underperformed in this game, but I can’t fully blame them for it. United’s big problem is one of collective structure rather than individual players. The team’s tactical conservatism and tendency to sit back makes it harder to connect midfield and forward lines.It’s important to understand that at this point in his career Alexis is more a playmaker than a fast winger. To make the best use of Alexis and Mata, United needs to be more proactive and give them a chance to link up with more teammates and create chances. They are not the kind of players who will make long runs into space or carry the ball 40 meters in a counter, so United’s current strategy of low block+counter doesn’t suit them well.I thought Pogba and Mata had rather positive games in the complicated context of United’s collective structure, with Pogba leading the charge both in attack and defense and Mata trying to provide some pause and good decisions in the team’s transitions.The Andreas Pereira experimentWith Matic and Herrera injured, Mourinho made a decision that surprised us all: instead of going for the more defensive Fellaini or McTominay, he decided to play with the more offensive Andreas Pereira. He has played as a no. 10, as a wide midfielder, as a CM in a double pivot or a 4–3–3, but never as a holding midfielder.Pereira gets an A for effort and attitude, but it’s clear he didn’t have a good grasp on the defensive concepts required of the position. He often found himself chasing rivals instead of defending the space, and that’s detrimental when playing a low block.He didn’t lose the ball in bad positions but also didn’t move the team forward too often—always a difficult task given United’s collective structure—.Bailly and De Gea save the day in defenseDuring the first half, the Chilwell-Maddison-Gray triangle was wreaking havoc on United’s right flank and Bailly prevented many of their efforts from turning into goal-scoring chances. Meanwhile, De Gea seems to be finally forgetting his woeful World Cup with more match winning saves.ConclusionsIf United keep playing like this, De Gea and Bailly will have to keep making miracles in defense while Pogba makes miracles linking midfield and forward lines. And sure, Matic and Lukaku were missing and Fred needs more time to adapt, but I think United’s big problem is one of systems, not individuals.There is no amount of Pogba or Alexis motivation that can compensate for the fact that United has a chronic issue connecting midfield and attack and that the team’s tactics are not optimizing well for their most creative players.Did you like this answer? I’m commenting the latest transfers and other European club news on Twitter (@jcperez_) as well as on a weekly podcast that’s available on iTunes, Google Play Music, and my own YouTube channel, The Football Engineer!