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do it this way, not your way · Dits & Dahs

• Sue: earliest memories as a child was my mother playing a Wurlitzer organ in our home. It was the experience of seeing her enjoy herself, feel happy playing music. And I have everything to thank her for that experience for the sake that they encouraged me to learn to play a musical instrument as well. And and my older brother too. But their approach to having us taught the basics was that they knew it would be best if we were learning to play music that we enjoyed listening to. Which kinda makes I'm sorry if I'm repeating what I always believe in because validating my parents' experience, which validates my experience. But anybody that's interested in learning how to read music or play music wants to have the tool so that they can play the music that they like to listen to, whether it be stuff that they create, whether be stuff they hear on the radio. It's an attraction that is the motivator for people to go through a weekly lesson and shell out a lot of money per lesson and then put the time in dutifully on your own to teach yourself the music in between lessons. It's a huge mindset and a commitment to maintain. When I was old enough to read handwriting, about four or five years old, that was the point. when my mother, who had then been teaching me the basics of music and how to read music, would hand me off to a professional teacher to continue and further that education because she knew what she could give to me had a limited scope and that somebody else would amplify that and expand. And she had a difficult time finding an appropriate teacher because at that point in the sixties in America, we were all taught to ⁓ tradition, meaning that if you wish to learn to play a particular instrument, you started off with this type of method book, ⁓ to get started and you stayed through all of that and progressed and then you moved to this method and it was all done to a very exacting tradition. And from the get go, I think both my brother and I, but I can speak for myself, certainly to say that That wasn't w the way to get me to playing the instrument. And so you get rebuked. You get shut down by all of those teachers who believe that you're not going to prosper in music. And you nonetheless persevere because you know darn well that how you teach yourself, because this is the also the enlightenment here, is that the person that you pay to guide you, albeit they're called a teacher or a tutor or an instructor. They are only a guide. You're with yourself each and every day when you play that musical instrument. So you're the one that is teaching. And you might be remembering the things that were said that the guide said you should follow and try this and do that while you're teaching yourself the music by yourself. But you are your own teacher and it always is thus. No matter what your focus of learning is, you're the one. You just have to have the tools. You just have to have a access to the information. You you know, all of those things now, thanks to the internet and you know, the proliferation of YouTube videos and whatnot, you know, all you gotta do if you have an internet connection is search and you can figure out how to do all sorts of things. You just be open minded enough to watch many different ways of doing the same thing so that you figure out what's best for you. That's your discernment. So by the time I got into a more formalized school setting where I'm participating in the band and choirs and accompanying people on the piano and all that. You're into this more traditional execution of learning the mastery of your instrument that really didn't sit well with me at all. I managed to work my way through it and pass and maybe excel in some areas, but it was not sitting with me the idea that I must learn to do this in a this way in order to succeed at playing a musical instrument. It came on again in my life when I started to play and study the oboe. The instrument itself had its own criteria put upon it by its instructors and tradition makers and executors of tradition, that you must play a a certain brand of instrument if you want to attain success at a professional level. ⁓ I can't afford that instrument. Well That's too bad then. Go play your child's toy of a nobo and ⁓ do your own thing. We don't we can't do anything for you here. And yet I persisted. I did what I could to be as best as I'm able to do as a noboist and as a organist and a pianist. And it's sort of no different than being left handed in a predominantly right handed world. And I happen to be left handed, by the way. I'm actually probably ambidextrous if I'm pushed to shift. So I always I always understood what it felt to be on the outside, trying to be on what I thought was the inside, the way to go, and not being accepted initially. And you'd learn with your discernment and faith in yourself and love in yourself and you open up your eyes and ears of what's going on in the universe around you and you recognize that everybody around you might be living a lie compared to the truth that you hold within and you don't find others around you, although you know somewhere in the universe others carry the same truth. So you're in this situation that you have to thrive in these traditions that are clearly not suitable for the way that I wish to learn. And being accepting of the fact that you do have to learn in the way that they want to teach you because you are trying to obtain a diploma or you know, success with passing the course or however the the goal is presented to you, you do wanna participate. Well, as I gain more insight working with more students and working with myself, playing music, it was all a cover up for the fact that the people that were put in as teachers didn't understand how to be open and receiving in the universe. And that by enforcing a tradition It meant that they could keep that part of their lack mindset, their weakness, their need mindset under covers. One of the reasons why I believe Oop ten ten on the clock. Confirmation. It's one of the reasons why I believe that when you choose to go to a a music school at a college level, university level, really have a look at the people who are teaching there. Are they the people that you already admire musically and respect? And just want to get to learn from? 'Cause that's where you should be going. Or is the school located in an area where there are plenty of opportunities another clock just hit ten ten that are actually gonna be a viable place to play the music that that you've been taught professionally. 'Cause in the end, the piece of paper that you have, the degree that you've earned, doesn't guarantee you a professional living at all. And if you go so far as to obtain all of the master's degrees and the PhDs and all of the advanced degrees that you can. You've become a an academic and you've just been subsued into the system. Because now you have a perpetual job that's protected. So you have your basic needs covered. Now you don't have to do much of anything. So you don't want people to let on about that, so you gotta teach the tradition. And things have I think are changing now because more of us exist in the system and People also understand with grace and patience that everybody learns and teaches themselves differently and by not following tradition doesn't guarantee failure. No success is guaranteed on either approach. However, learning something deeply is tied in with it being enjoyable and happy process. And that means that you're at peace and comfortable and at ease. You're the that point, you're the biggest cosmic sponge in the universe that you could ever want because all that stuff is filtering through you and you make the discerned decision what you're gonna hang on to and create with. I'm not damning the tradition of music. I am just raising the awareness that n now we are in a place in our existence as humans where acquiring information to learn a new skill doesn't have to follow tradition. There are certain licensed professions that ⁓ yes, you must, but I'm speaking on creative and maybe avocational skill learning. And it really stems back to those who are in the position of teaching of whether or not they're trying to cover their i their own inadequacies of what they are trying to teach to others through the boundaries or through the restrictions, through the path of going in a traditional manner. Traditional. We've always done it this way. It has served us well. It weeds out those that don't belong. Is that how you are covering things up? You don't want anybody to know that you don't really belong, because while you're preaching the traditional route, you've not succeeded at it yourself and just don't want to let on to others? Okay. Well, okay, have a nice day somewhere else then, is my view. I'm reminded of this because I have a neighbor who wishes to learn To read music and write music. He already plays. And I'm thinking about this topic a lot because I think in life we catch ourselves in situations where we pull we funnel our f focus direction through a traditional path because the others around us don't know anything else. I mean, you know, they wouldn't know that there might be an alternative way to access that data that you can then use to teach yourself whatever it is that you want to learn. And nonetheless it's all about acceptance and forgiveness. There are infinite ways to learn music. And that if you find yourself seeking knowledge with someone who starts off in a very traditional path of this book and that book and you do this and you do that, and you put your all into that process and recognize after a couple of months, maybe even less than that, that it's not agreeable to you, that's a good sign. That says that you are open to receiving much more than the funneled view of that tradition. And there are more of us out there now that understand that and can share that with you. So have at it. I'm sure this might pertain to other skilled learning s scenarios, but I'm only speaking on music 'cause that's what I know best. If you're interested in learning to read music and write music, to express yourself in the way further that you already are because you can play an instrument by ear or sing by ear. Well, if you want, let me know. We can all do it virtually. Just costs you some time. In the meantime, thanks for sharing your energy today and I appreciate you.