Breaking Down What Really Matters To You In Your Music Education
When it comes time to crack open a lesson book, online course, or sit down with your music teacher, you have a mission in mind: get better at my instrument. As I’ve gotten older and dealt with consuming and attempting to retain vast amounts of information, I’ve finally come to a personal conclusion about how to avoid the guilt or stress of not feeling progress, and rethinking and executing on progress in a healthier way. Learning music does not have to be such a frustrating experience.
Here’s the scene: I sit down in my lesson studio, have a cup of coffee, and open up the latest workbook I’m studying, or log into whichever course I’m learning new concepts from. I spend about an hour with said materials, make notes, and move on to the next task in my day.
The problem? The next time I sit down to practice I spend almost all my time reviewing the previous material and make limited progression with the next chapters. The momentum gets slowed, frustration sets in, and weeks may go by before I make another attempt, in which case I’m back at square one.
The major roadblock? Retention, retention, retention.
Ask any college grad–after 4 years of study, in your final year the university partners with the state to assess the graduating class with a retention exam (which is not graded thankfully) to see how much the student has retained over their 4 year college experience. Results are usually less than ideal, and there is a fair amount of guilt that sets in as you make your way through the exam, trying to remember everything your teachers showed you over the last 4 years. But should you even feel guilty about this? How much of it do you ACTUALLY need to know in your long term memory, and how much of it was just a temporary challenge?
I still have all of my guitar lesson books from when I started as a 13 year old. I used to flip through them and come across a couple chord voicings that I am not familiar with now, and don’t use. I would feel guilty about this and would feel compelled to once again go through everything with a fine toothed comb because this lack of retention is of course, unacceptable. Right?
I’ve come to learn this is not the way to think about learning and retention. There is a better and healthier way forward to progress.
You Can’t Learn It All
There is so much information in this world. The first thing you have to make peace with is that you will never learn it all. There aren’t enough lifetimes. You aren’t going to master every style, learn every technique, memorize every musical theory rule. Just let it go and start there.
Any student of mine will tell you that I love my analogies; I do love them, they’re effective retention tools and almost always seem to work. I tell my students that musical information and learning is like a buffet. You walk around, take a portion of something that smells or looks good to you, put it on your plate, and eat without overeating.
Two results can occur. Maybe you liked it, so you go back for some more. After a while, you remember how to get to it, and you know what it tastes like.
Or, maybe you didn’t like it, so you don’t go back for more.
Would you feel guilty about NOT going back for more of something you didn’t want to eat? Maybe the taste or the feel or the texture was off. Either way, of course you wouldn’t feel guilty. So why would you put this same burden on yourself as a student of music?
I’ve begun teaching this new cognitive concept to my students, and it all boils down into 2 categories.
Memorization or Demonstration
It’s important if you’re working with a teacher for them to inform you of the overall goal of any concept you’re learning.
Let’s revisit my guitar book from when I was 13. Was it important for me to MEMORIZE the 12 notes, how to play major and minor chords, a pentatonic scale, a major scale? Yes. Why? Because we can all agree these are fundamental concepts that without a total understanding, will forver impede your progress on the instrument and come back to haunt you.
Now how about this C7 inverted voicing rooted from the G string. Did I need to memorize that? No. So why be bothered that I never did. As a 41 year old grown man I’ve never needed it.
It’s almost like information hoarding. Make a decision in 60 seconds whether you need it or not. If so, keep it. If not, demonstrate it and possibly pick up some long term side benefits and move on. Sometimes you may need guidance making that decision, and if so, never be afraid to ask for help.
Putting It All Into Practice
With that mindset in place, the overwhelming feeling of how much you need to learn is dramatically lessened. We don’t need to memorize (or eat) everything, we simply need to define whether its a long term memory subject or a short term one with potential long term benefits.
Here I am in the lesson studio again, with the book in front of me trying to dive into jazz voice leading concepts. Instead of writing my notes down, playing through the examples, and closing the book, only to return not retaining anything, I look at it in a whole new way.
- Start by defining what I actually WANT to MEMORIZE from this chapter. Is it a fundamental concept that will haunt me later OR is it something that I really like the sound or feel of?
- As Schwarzenegger would say, “reps, reps, reps”. I would add to this sentiment “smart reps”. For example, if I’m trying to learn a new series of chord voicings, I’ll meld them into something I do frequently so they become a part of my new language. Bring it with me into the field, so to speak, and take it out of the practice room. The next time I’m at a gig, I’ll try to make sure I use those new chords in a tune I always play so it becomes a part of me. I remember my way back to the table, I remember the taste, I know why it tastes good.
- If I deem it not to be a fundamental concept, a niche piece of information, or something that doesn’t sound great or feels right…maybe the chord is a wonky uncomfortable voicing or just sounds ugly…make a quick decision and be OK with it not being memorized. Give it a shot, understand why it exists, and move on.
When I’m working with my students, I take extra care to let them know from the jump whether they need to memorize something or simply demonstrate it. Too often students get stuck on a page of scale permutations or various exercises. Likely, this has to do with their reading ability (another blog post I’d like to address later) or a feeling that it needs to be memorized. Demonstrate to me how it goes, understand why it’s important, and only memorize it if it speaks to you. You decide. Just make sure you memorize the fundamental scale.
There are a million chords and riffs to learn. You have to get hyper specific on what your goals are and use “smart reps” on the things you want to make a part of your language, and be OK with leaving out the ones that you don’t. There are many ways to exercise a muscle. If one of them isn’t to your liking, there’s always another one to try. Be ready to adapt and be empowered by it!
Music is Learning a New Language
Another one of my favorite analogies. If you were learning a new language, you’d likely start by learning the alphabet, then creating small words, how to pronounce the words, modify the words, string new words together to create longer thoughts. Develop the ability to understand when someone speaks, and respond in kind. Become creative with the way you speak until you can freely improvise with it or transform your thoughts into sound.
You wouldn’t start by reading every word in the dictionary would you? Of course not. So why would we take this same approach to learning music?
How many different words are there in English to say something is “beautiful”? You could learn the words: lovely, stunning, gorgeous, charming, attractive, cute, magnificent, exquisite. Which ones you decide to use are completely up to you, besides, you already know how to say the word “beautiful”, so everything else is just a bonus and another way to express yourself but generally saying the same thing.
Try to think the way a native speaker thinks, and you’ll have a much easier time mastering the areas you’d like to improve. I’ll write more on this topic later.
Understanding and performing music is very much akin to speaking a new language. Understand the progression of it and be comfortable knowing where you are in each phase.
The scale is the alphabet. Certain basic exercises are forming small words. Connecting ascending and descending patterns creates longer sentences. Adding dynamics and playing over chord changes creates a story.
Go Forth and Be Less Stressed, Be More Productive
Don’t be afraid to make your own story on the instrument, and worry less about what others do with theirs. Decide what you need to memorize and take with you for life, and separate the demonstrative information that either develops a long term technique or understanding of something greater.
Your progress will be much faster and efficient, and you will be empowered by it and only hungry for more. Had to end it with another analogy. Get out there and get to work, and have fun while you’re doing it!
While working nights in AC as an entertainer, he spent the days commuting to Rowan University, graduating at the top of his class with a bachelor’s degree in Marketing. He founded Main Stage Marketing LLC in January 2012, specializing in social media, internet/mobile marketing, and creative promotions. He founded Main Stage Entertainment LLC in 2022 which provides musical direction, musician staffing, live performance engagements and education services.
Dan lives with his wife Gina and is a proud father of 2 boys, Wesley and Nathan. He resides in South Jersey.
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