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Tenth Anniversary


DianeB

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Teacher, teach thyself.

It’s ten years to the day I opened the Learn and Master box and the possibilities spilled out. I’ve made it about half way through the course. Let’s look at my ten-year report card. For lack of a better rubric, I’ll steal from Tom Heany’s book First Learn to Practice, and use his “Seven Good Habits”.

1. Be Comfortable: A+. The spare bedroom steadily transformed from a straight chair with a music stand in 2012 into my dream practice space in 2019. It invites me, it comforts me, it schools me.

2. Be Honest: A. The recordings don’t lie, and now I can trust my ear rather well in real time. I feel the misfingerings, sense the rhythmic hiccups, and hear the buzzes: just the right amount of self-awareness without tipping into self-recrimination.

3. Be Optimistic: C. Ouch. This one has been slipping for the past few years. Some errors seem intractable. My social and musical circle has significantly diminished, and justifiably or not, I have a growing sense that time is not on my side. Without the gatherings and retreats, this grade would be worse.

4. Be Persistent. A–. I can be implacable. In practicing, that’s an asset.

5. Be Consistent. A. My iPad has the receipts: 6,239 hours of time on task; averaging 1 hour, 54 minutes per day for precisely ten years. On the rare days I didn’t practice or study about 15 a year — I was usually either sick, traveling, or tending to the family. There were only a handful when I just needed a break.

6. Go Slow. B–. I need to tap the brakes more often. Small. Simple. Short. Slow. Easier said than done.

7. Make Music. B+. I still attend my monthly acoustic jam; I’ve been to 84 since 2013. For two years, I had the neighborhood band; we played five gigs. And I’ve performed a song at each of the gatherings, so, opportunities taken. There’s still a lot of room to grow in my musicality.

What have I learned? Much, I suppose, and yet not nearly enough. I can get as exasperated today as I did in 2012. Back then, it was over “Aura Lee”. Now, my nemesis is “Josie”. Our horizon always recedes as we approach it. Once in a while, it’s good to turn around to look back at one’s wake.

We could add an eighth Good Habit to Tom’s list, the one that makes all the others possible: Be Grateful. Making music — yes, even with fumbled chords and riffs — is a choice. Not everyone who would like to hold an instrument has the chance. I’m grateful for the modest things I can do, and especially for all my music friends who have kept me on the endless path and brought me joy. Some of you will read this.

In a quiet moment, I recently confessed to my teacher of the past decade, “I always seem to be one fret away from total despair. But you never let me get there.”

He nodded reassuringly. “It’s a journey.”

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dsds

Diane, thanks for sharing.  It is a journey full of frustrating moments accompanied by a whole lot more moments of joy (music).  Here’s to another ten years!  
Bryan

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dsds

Well said Diane. I can also share many of the points which you have made. For me it has been a journey of six years with Steve guiding me.

My circle of friends has also shrunk. The pandemic put an end to our groups monthly jams, along with my motivation to learn new songs to keep up. One member moved away, another (a doctor) is too busy.

For me there was a major turning point, three years ago. I finally came to the realization that my 75 year old brain was never going to properly read sheet music. I learned to read tabs, converted  my song library to tab and purchased the Songbook app for my iPad. In the beginning the primary function of learning to play the guitar was to play songs. I have reached that objective with simple songs, playing rhythm and lead tracks. Presently, I am trying to learn more songs of increasing complexity, recording the tracks to critique myself and improve.

Overall, this has been a totally entertaining journey which has given my brain the daily exercise it requires.

Last month one of my friends gave me a bass guitar with an amp, the journey continues.

Henk

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dsds

Oldjock, give yourself a pat on the back for STARTING at 69!

Diane, look at #5 again, WOW!!  You certainly encourage me.  I could kick myself for not putting in more time.  Now that arthritis is hitting my hands, I especially regret it.....

You should have added as an accomplishment all you do for this group, especially on our Tuesday nights together.  Kudos to you!  Thanks for posting this.

 

 

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dsds

@Nancy Lawing It includes playing time, but I figure the jams and handful of performances total less than 300 hours. It includes time studying theory (820 hours). And it's worth noting that several authors have pointed out that Anders Ericsson's 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to mastery (popularized in Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers) is something of a red herring; it's an average. I don't see anything magical about the figure, and some of my practice is not so deliberate. I haven't had a teacher over my shoulder for three years, now. As Ericsson stresses, that counts. What's magical is having some way of keeping yourself accountable.

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dsds

Yes, Ericsson has been somewhat "debunked", for lack of a better word.  In my sixties now, I want a balance of deliberate but also FUN.  I'm hoping to get to a level where I can improv and enjoy it, keep up.  THAT would be fun!  I, too, enjoy studying music theory....just have trouble applying it sometimes.  It's easier for me to picture a piano keyboard as I study it....the frets and multiple locations of the same note at the same pitch continually confound me!  Kudos to you for studying theory on average 82 hours a year, or about 1.5 hours a week!

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dsds

 

Nice summary you  put together @DianeB reminds me of my weekly SITREP from my DOD job. Steve has warned us as you may recall about a student with all the charts, numbers, facts, figures, tasks, and so on. I agree that too much evaluation can suck the joy out of something if one is not careful. Try to be kind to yourself on number 3. I think your social and musical circle was significantly enhanced around 27-30October's retreat, I know mine was.  

I agree with @Nancy Lawing, definitely an A+. All that you do (and have done) for this group is an added accomplishment that makes the learning experience much better for us. There were 100 plus watching at the last Live Lesson, just sayin' -thanks.

During the next Guitar Gathering if given the opportunity I plan to illustrate some of those "fumbled chords and riffs" while my learning journey continues.

Keep up the good work, Gene C 

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dsds

Such wonderful insights.  A decade of music making.  A day of making music - however big or small - is so much better and greater than a day not making music.

Thank you Diane.

- Steve

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