On Learning Music by Howard M. Roberts If youare like most people, you probably learned how to play a musical instrument in the public schools, Ifo, then be aware that you have probably been programmed to learn in an inefficient and largely unrewarding way. As a result, ‘many hours of practice have been lost because you cannot remember what you Jeamed. And, obviously, if you can't remember it, you can't use it. You have wasted a great deal of time learning that learning music is all work and no reward ~ itis time to lean a new way. ‘The problem of the old way is that it depends for its success upon rote learning, and ineffective methods of memorization. By contrast, the new way is compatible with the way the nervous system processes information and enables you to make progress in a natural and satisfying way. Itis essential to bear in mind that the valuable years of learning, which passed when you were very young and the nervous system was still being formed, have already been given up to the old way. Habits have been formed which are, for the most part, bad habits. These are destructive to the learning process, and will not contribute to your growth or pleasure in the study of music. However, simply recognizing these habits for what they are is not enough to get rid of them. You may consciously understand the new way, but the unconscious is inthe grip of the old way and will prevail unless you constantly remind yourself. Presence of mind throughout the entire learning experience is necessary if you want to break the spell of the old habits. The new way may seem alittle artificial to you because itis so unlike your previous training, but have faith ~ you will see results soon! Now, let's lookat the features of the new way. We will take up in turn; Quality, Quantity, Motivation, Diagnosis, Two Kinds of Memory, Recall, Time Frames, Accuracy and Speed, and Overload. Quality With the old way of learning, you are fed a piece of information of dubious relevance or importance and expected to master it for some future good which you do not presently comprehend. Because the information is not perceived to be ofuse to you, itis not well enough imprinted for easy recall. Then, six months later, when you need it for a particular application, you have to go back and learn it all over again, This has taken twice the time for half the musical payoff. This does not mean that you won't encounter material from time to time whose immediate relevance is not clear to you. You will. Should you ignore it and go on to the next assignment? The answer is no. Once your eyes, ears and hands have touched a thing, there is a kind of “deja vu" effect which makes it much easier to remember later when the need arises. For this reason you should go through the regimen and discipline of learning that piece of information, knowing full well that you may not fully retain it this time around. There is however, a more efficient way to lear, [tis based on the often heard but little appreciated rule that states: a person learns what he wants to learn when he wants to learn it. This is of the utmost importance in the selection of material. You must know exactly WHAT you are working on and exactly WHY you want it. You must see how it fits into your present body of musical knowledge and how and where you will use it once you master it, Thetefore, whenever possible, work only with information which has a useful purpose now.Quantity Let's talk for a moment about dealing with large quantities of information. When approaching a new piece of music with hundreds of notes that you are supposed to learn, are you going to learn all of those notes simultaneously? The answer is — not likely. Nevertheless, it is possible to make the simultaneous leaming of many notes appear to happen, as it does with good studio sight reading, but this is an illusion, They are still learning one note ata time, only the process is so accelerated as to seem like magic. ‘The old Chinese proverb “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” changes the nature of the problem of learning altogether. YOU HAVE ONLY TO PLAY THE FIRST NOTE SUCCESSFULLY AND PROPERLY TO INFORM YOUR NERVOUS SYSTEM THAT YOU ARE CAPABLE OF PLAYING THAT FIRST NOTE WELL AND THAT YOU HAVE NOW PLAYED YOUR INSTRUMENT CORRECTLY. You have selected a note to play and you have performed that note well. You have now proven to yourself that you are a successful learner. Now you need only to build on this base — step by step, and the performance of the rest of the piece is merely a question of quantity rather than quality. In other words, ifa student skier can ski the first three feet correctly, he certainly can ski the next three feet correctly and the next and the next. With this recognition comes strengthened motivation. The next note is easier to learn and the process accelerates. Just remember; after Jearning that first note, ask yourself simply ~ what is the next step? ‘Phe obvious answer is - the next note. In this way, you are never overwhelmed by dealing with hundreds of notes at once. The next step is just to put the first two notes together and perform them in sequence. You've now doubled the amount of material you've mastered without increasing the difficulty. Next? The third note and the fourth note...and now all four together...! Motivation We are all accustomed to think that motivation results from the input we receive from others, whether this is a gold star, a word of encouragement, or even a failing grade. ‘This is part and parcel of the old way of learning, but the ‘motivation received in this way is short-lived. The only lasting and reliable source of motivation is successful performance, and only you can insure this. The selfis the real source of motivation. When you turn to lesson and sit down to devote fifty minutes of your time and concentration, you must be assured that at the end of the period you will put, your instrument down and walk away with what you sat down to get. You must give up the habit of failing and replace it with the habit of success. You've got to walk away with the reward every time, or know exactly what went wrong. With the new way, failure to lear and grow is eliminated by design. You will never walk away with a blank because you are confused about what you are doing or because of poor study techniques. But how do you determine what to do if something does go wrong? This brings us to diagnosis. Diagnosis In your studies it is very important to be aware of the effects of environmental factors such as weather, light, and background noise. Ifit is a hot, stifting day, and the oxygen count is low, your learning is going tobe affected. Improper lighting can cause fatigue and eye strain. Be sure thatyour practice area is well-lit; if you are particularly sensitive to this problem you ‘might solve it with full-spectrum lighting, etc. Next, be aware of distracting noises in the environment, We live in a world of 60-cycle hum. The electeicity inall of our walls is humming away, producing a pitch somewhere between B flat and B natural. If there is an ait conditioner or refrigerator nearby, the sound can influence everything you play. You can be severely out of tune with the refrigerator and easily mis-diagnose the problem as a fault of a tin ear or lack of talent All of this points toa larger concern ~ the problem of properly diagnosing and identifying the obstacle to successful and rewarding learning. You might think, for instance, “No matter how hard I try, I cannot play fast enough — there must be something wrong with my hands.” The problem may actually be only the poor synchronization of two excellent hands. A possible solution is to play in the bathroom, where it is extremely quiet and resonant, and where one can hear the most minute detail coming out of the instrument. This, may serve to eliminate quickly the flam-effect between the right and left hand. Finally, relaxation is an important factor. Being relaxed effects your blood- flow and your muscle-tone, Proper posture is equally important. Get up from your chair, get the instrument out of your hands, and stretch frequently. If the task starts to seem overwhelming ~ lie down flat on the floor and breathe deeply for a few moments, Imagine yourself playing the passage perfectly. Be kind and considerate to yourself — afterall you are learning to play music for the joy of it. Keep yourself relaxed and comfortable at all times, and your learning will be many times more effective. Two Kinds of Memory ‘There are two kinds of memory involved in the learning process. Your motor memory is the training of the physical or motor skills (where to put your fingers, etc.,) and your data memory which is the acquisition of conceptual data and information. Your motor memory is stored in a different place and is trained differently from your data memory, The motor memory is trained by repetition. If you are training motor skills, you can practice for many long hours without doing any harm. The more of this kind of repetition the better. in fact, much of this learning can be accomplished unconsciously. A person can achieve wonders while mindlessly staring at the television, playing or noodling for hours, even with the sound on. With data memory ~ the memorizing of conceptual data, such as scale construction, fingering patterns, licks, harmony, etc,, you must work within very short time frames, making sure you do not exceed your attention span, Bear in mind that your attention span will vary from day to day, and may be as short as five, ten or fifteen minutes at any one sitting. The signal that you have come to the end of your natural attention span, may be anything from staring at the wall, 10 thinking about your vacation, to playing that little ol blues lick you have known since you were seven. In this case, your unconscious mind is telling you, you have had enough for now. This is perfectly natural. So take a short break. It’s no big deal. You'll recover quickly and you can continue on effectively. Remember, then, that there are two completely different aspects to gaining ‘musical control of the instrument: First, learning by mental rehearsal and visualization and recalling it from memory, and second (though no less important), motor skill training through repetition. Don't fall into the trap of confusing the two different types of learning and spending hours working without concentration trying to acquire conceptual data, And, conversely, don’t be footed into thinking that there is a short cut to acquiring motor skils. Howard RobertsRecall Studies have shown that the mind is like a camera. Once it gets a clear impression of the material, the picture is snapped into focus. You have it. It can now be recalled and replicated in order to train the motor system. Memory should not depend on repetition. Rather, the rote learning we are taught in school is actually destructive to the learning process. What you should be looking at the material once to get a very clear, focused picture; then, mentally rehearsing it without actually using the instrument, On the rote- memory system, you are taught to repeat the learning process over and over. This is where you start to forget. The picture blurs, and you do not learn how toremember. Reinforce this new way of learning by staying away from the printed page as much as possible, Make the snapping of the image only once a matter of habit. Practice recalling the sounds and visualizing the fingerings that match those sounds. Do this while waiting for the bus or having lunch. In time this will become second nature, and you will become a perpetual learner, able to learn as much away from the instrument as you can with it in your hands, Time Frames You may ask “How long should I work on new material at any one time?” ‘The answer is, you should work on new material in the beginning in very short time-frames. A few minutes of concentrated, thoughtful study can make a solid impression and can prove far more beneficial than hours of unfocused drudgery. In the beginning stages you will need to assign yourself breaks “by the clock" until you become sensitive to your own physical and mental signals. So get yourself a kitchen timer and time each section of your practice. At first, when your timer goes off signifying that your time is up, obey the discipline of the signal. Do not break it and go beyond your assigned time-limit! ‘Then as you become more accustomed to managing your own time, you will become more and more sensitive to your own limits, and will be able to sense when you have gone too far and need to rest. Remember that, while on the old method it is all right to practice until you drop, the new method requires you to re-train yourself for a whole new kind of learning experience. Accuracy and Speed It is natural for any student of instrumental music to want to play fast right away. This is a perfectly legitimate desire. It is crucial to remember, however, that speed is a by-product of accuracy. If you are not accurate, your speed will simply not develop. If you try to play too fast too quickly you will simply reinforce the bad habit of sloppy playing.ERATED LEARNING Why do I want to learn this? (QUALITY CONTROL.) SATISFACTIO! 2. ENTHUSIASM:~ Motivation. (Quality & Quantity.) ONTROL OVER MENTAL & PHYSICAL TRAINING:- a) Motor Skills - Hands etc., Set b) Mental Skills - Set Time Frames. Developing LONG TERM MEMORY & RECALL. 4. CONTROL OVER MEMORY POWER 85% of material learnt! MENTAL REVIEW THE TASK INCREASES TO FILL THE TIME ITED FOR IT'S Ci 5. MANAGEMENT OF TIME FRAMES: - —¥ - True attention span 2 to 5 minutes! 6. CONTROL OVER MENTAL FATIGU SMALL SHORT