When I was a kid I had to take piano. My mom was right I wish I would have kept with it.
Here’s the thing…
I was much better at memorizing the music than reading the music.
So my process was, I would work and think really hard in order to memorize it so I wouldn’t have to think about it anymore.
That was the fun part. And I would play it as fast as I could too.
But after a few days or weeks or months of cruising along without thinking…the thinking would creep back in.
And once I started thinking again I made a lot of mistakes, sometimes I forgot whole parts of the song as I was sitting at the piano…and it was really hard to go back to the ease of not thinking.
The muscle memory was gone…or spotty at best. It felt impossible to simply tell myself to stop thinking and just play.
I, begrudgingly, had to go back to the music and figure it all out again before I could move forward.
So the sequence is something like this…
Thinking/Learning (difficult)
Not Thinking/Muscle Memory (fun)
Re-Thinking/Understanding (meaningful)
Knowing (longevity)
Don’t miss a post. Sign up for free.
I’m always interested in your perspective, whether affirming or dissenting. Continue the conversation anytime: gabethebassplayer@gmail.com