Subject: How Do You Learn?
You are getting this e-mail because you subscribed to it on www.learn-to-play-rock-guitar.com. If you don't want to receive these e-mails any longer, go to the bottom of this message and click on "unsubscribe." Hey there Friend, Hope y'all are doing well. I don't know if you got in on the History of Rock Part 1 class or not over on Coursera, but I'm enjoying it! A lot of good stuff coming across in the videos, the instructor has a good presentation style, and I'm learning lots. Turns out history CAN be fascinating!I recently had an interesting email conversation with David (OK, sometimes I do talk to myself, but not in this case…) about learning styles and what's the best way to approach guitar. He says, "… as an adult learner I have begun to learn songs, and from songs I learn technique, some scales, riffs etc. I have found even in my professional life that I learn better by doing vs. going through scales and theory. I intend to get theory along the way, but to me it takes the fun out of it. Am I developing bad habits by doing it this way or follow my nose and go after it." Here's my reply: Hey David, No, I think you're right on. If you're learning by listening to a song and figuring out the guitar parts (or whatever instrument, for that matter), don't stop! I think modern education gets us messed up into thinking there's only a handful of ways to go about learning. It forces us into these boxes, which I think turns off so many people to learning music. Yes, music can be very technical, but music theory isn't about technique, it's about emotion. How does a song make you feel, and how do you use the melodies and harmonies and beats to influence your listeners? But if you think about it, way back in the day there were no music schools teaching theory. You learned music by apprenticing with a master and learning by being taught the old songs by that master. Or if you only had access to the instrument, you figured it out on your own. There was no recorded music, so it had to be passed down to the next generation. Those with the aptitude continued it on. Music is fundamental to human existence, in my opinion. It's not just some nice tunes to listen to in the background - it has influenced humans since before there were humans. As vocal chords and brains developed and we learned how to use them to communicate, we also learned the power of joined voices to help create protection and community. That gets lost a bit in today's lifestyle because we can all listen to whatever we want individually. Anyway, you touched on something I could talk about for hours! Keep doing what you're doing. That's how I learn, too. I'm fascinated by technique, love replicating what I hear, and even enjoy the mundane task of playing scales and such. But when I was in a band, I couldn't even tell you what a pentatonic scale was. It was all about learning my guitar part and vocals to play the next gig. I did this by playing the record (yes, record) over and over until I learned the part. When I work with my private students, I use a couple of approaches to try and keep them interested and engaged. Depending on what their skill level is, we might start with simple tabs to learn a basic melody on guitar, or we might jump right into breaking down a favorite song by analyzing all the guitar parts, then learning each part. The theory isn't as important as having some success playing actual music and having fun. It's a lot of work to develop lesson plans and/or curriculum for various students, and I think you can have a basic generic approach, but you have to also take an individual approach to teaching each student. That's where problems can develop in traditional music teaching environments - instead of personalizing lessons to each student, many teachers work out of a book that follows a linear method - start on page one and work through page by page, note by note until you finish the book. A lot of times the students get bored and eventually quit because none of the music in these books is remotely modern. It's more fun to mix it up and play some stuff you enjoy. It doesn't have to be complex - any song can be broken down into its basic melody and chord progression. From there you can build on it to learn why certain chords go together, or a melody fits over the top of that chord progression and why the timing is the way it is over the basic rhythm of the song. So don't get hung up on the "right" way to learn - we all learn differently, so do what works for you and fill in the blanks as you go. If there's one rule, it's to have fun. If it ain't fun, you're not going to want to do it, and you end up quitting, and we just can't have that, now can we? Peace~ Dave Dave "Eddie" Vance is a rock guitar enthusiast and gear nut. He has been playing guitar for over 30 years and enjoys tormenting the neighbors every chance he gets. When he's not slaving for the man, you can find him rocking out with his B.C. Rich Bich guitar, a cold beer and some sweet tunes. He also runs Learn-To-Play-Rock-Guitar.com, but you knew that already! Follow Learn To Play Rock Guitar:I welcome your feedback! Did you like today's message? What other topics would you like to see covered in my e-mails? Please let me know at: dave@learn-to-play-rock-guitar.com As always, please feel free to forward this email to a friend! I review products before recommending them. If you buy a product based on my recommendation, I will receive a commission. However, my emails also contain links that don’t require any investment on your part and are jam-packed with "juicy, guitar learnin' tastiness". We don't rent or share your name with anybody. Feel free to forward this issue to any friends you think would enjoy its contents. They will thank you. So will I.
|
