One Thought

In my plan of action, I stated that music was a major reason I decided to leave my job.  I didn’t have enough time to accomplish what I wanted musically, and I needed to do something to fix that.  This essay describes that something.

I took up guitar at the old age of 19–the horror!–and, being in college at the time, I never had the chance to devote myself to the instrument.  Music was always on the back-burner.  I spent quite a few hours practicing during my first 7 years as a musician, but my practice was usually unfocused.  I learned new stuff here and there, but mostly I played the same pieces over and over.  It’s hard to focus on improvement when your only free time is after work (when you’re tired) and on the weekend (when practice time competes with leisure time).

I decided I could either accept my fate as a mediocre musician or do something drastic to change course.  Needless to say, I chose option B.  I left my job five months ago (wow, has it really been that long?), and since then I’ve devoted a big chunk of every day to music.

I like to call my current musical endeavors “self-taught music school.”  This description is pretty accurate — I am in fact doing many of the things people do in music school.  I’ll describe what I’m doing later, though.  First I want to answer an obvious question: Why am I not in music school?

Music School: Pro and Con

Music school is great in some ways: Your environment is structured for you.  You’re taught a curriculum formulated by experts.  You’re mentored and coached.  You’re surrounded by a community of musicians.

But it’s not-so-great in other ways.  First, you have to pay to attend.  I would pay if I thought it was worth it, but there are other problems.  Music school’s structure can be stifling.  The curriculum can require classes that aren’t interesting.  The pace can be too fast or too slow.  The instructors can be boring or inept.

I’m most concerned with the curriculum and structure.  Of my friends who’ve attended music school, most have not liked it much.  Their complaints have usually been about the curriculum and structure: They’re not interested in conducting, but they have to learn it anyway.  They are interested in learning about counterpoint, but they don’t like the rigorous way its “rules” are enforced.  The styles of music that music schools tend to focus on–like symphonic and jazz–bore them.

I’ve looked at some music school curricula, and I’ve not been excited by them.  My apathy isn’t due to a lack of interest in music theory, ear training, or other things that some musicians consider boring — in fact, as you’ll see below, I’m studying these things right now.  Rather, the teaching style feels too formal and the focused-on styles of music are not what I’d like to be studying.

Music school’s structure might hinder me more than it would help.  I’m a self-disciplined person, and I’m able to structure my time myself.  I tend to learn best without external pressure.  I’m most excited when my motivation is purely internal, and I hate feeling pressured to do things I don’t want to do.

So I’m not that excited by the prospect of music school.  However, if anyone has good things to say about their music school experience, I’d love to hear them.  I’m not convinced it’s a bad idea, after all.

My “Curriculum”

With that out of the way, I’m going to describe exactly how I’m spending my time.  Per my article on mastering a new skill, I’m doing the things I feel are the biggest bang-for-the-buck time-wise.  I’ve identified my weakest areas, and I’m focusing on improving them.  I’m doing some exercises, but I’m trying to concentrate on producing actual music.

My “curriculum” is as follows.  Note that I’m studying music approximately 5 hours per day, 5 days per week.

• Guitar technique.  As a warm-up, I start the day with technique building exercises.  I focus mostly on my right (picking) hand technique–and particularly speed–which is (or was!) my biggest technical weakness.  Progress is slow but (mostly) steady.  I play along with a metronome and focus on exactly how my hands are moving.  (I could write several articles just on this subject — and maybe I will!)

• Ear-training.  During my first 7 years as a guitarist, I focused very little on training my ear.  The songs I wanted to learn were usually complex, and learning them from tabs was far easier than learning them by ear.  Doing the easy thing was a bad idea — it’s difficult to compose music without a well-developed ear.

  I’m working hard to bring my ear up to par with my other abilities.  I do ear-training exercises, which involve identifying intervals, chords, and melodies, and I’ve gotten a lot better in the last few months.  I learn (and sometimes transcribe) songs by ear.  This is still a painstaking process, but I’m getting better.  I try to transcribe all parts–including bass, drums, and keyboards–rather than just guitar.

• Songwriting.  My goal is to create music, so songwriting is the most important thing I do.  Unfortunately (but not surprisingly) it’s also the most nebulous, so studying it is difficult. I regularly practice my composition and improvisation skills.  My composition experience is, so far, very limited, but I’m getting closer to having a finished product.  One of my goals for this year is to complete an “EP” of original music.

  Every day, I spend some time improvising, usually over a backing track.  My improvisational abilities have improved significantly in the past few months.  I study the form of songs I like and, in some cases, record covers of them.  I read books on song structure and the songwriting process.

• Music theory.  I find myself drawn to music theory, but for different reasons than I’m drawn to music.  Music is, at its core, an emotional experience, while music theory is a scientific and mathematical one.  Music theory is the “physics” of music: just as physics is about explaining patterns visible in the natural world, music theory is about explaining patterns in our perception of what sounds good.  I love to experience music on an emotional level, but I also love to understand it on a scientific level.  I’m also convinced that a scientific understanding of music can, if used correctly, lead to better compositions.

  To further my understanding of music theory, I work through books on the subject.  At this point, I understand the basics–rhythm, scales, modes, chord construction, chord progressions–and I’m delving into more-advanced subjects.  I’m starting a book on melody now, and I’ll be studying harmony and counterpoint in the near future.

There you have it!  As usual, any questions, comments, and suggestions are welcome.