Learning to Play an Instrument
The way I feel about teaching someone to play an instrument is I can help because I have been through that process. I have been studying music for a long time and I have had many teachers. The most important thing I have learned is how to learn. You have to proceed one step at a time. Learning a musical instrument is no easy task. Ideally, we just want to be aware of the music flowing through us and out through the instrument. Before that can happen, you have to teach your body how to play the instrument. Another important thing I have learned is to accept the process. You have to start from the reality of whatever you can do in this moment. Then, you have to see the next step.
Try to do something you can't quite do yet. Be aware of just one thing that you are trying to do. This is where I can help. Trying to do everything at once is impossible. Put your attention on just one thing and watch it improve. How does this happen? I think it's magic. The magic of consciousness. Learn how to move your awareness from one thing to the next. Get out of the way and let consciousness, through the body and the brain, do it's thing. After a while you find that you can do something you couldn't do before. Now you can do it almost unconsciously. You can step back and enjoy the fruits of your labor. Now you can focus on the the sound, the music, the feeling of it coming through. Enjoy it, and start to work on the next step.
You have to remember it's all about making music. And actually, you can make music from the very beginning. Whether you are a child or an adult, played before or never played before, the making of music is innate. It doesn't have to be sophisticated, skilled, or anything fancy. Its a feeling. Easier for a child than an adult. We tend to get inhibitied. Afraid of sounding less than perfect. So that becomes a process as well. Playing something very simple can be just as much fun as playing something amazingly difficult. Begin making music from the start. That's why I like to use improvisation with my students. Learn to let go and have some fun.
What are the basics? Learn to listen. Really listen. And learn how to relax. Not so relaxed that you fall on the floor. Have a good posture, physically and mentally. It requires awareness. It's mostly common sense. Let your body teach you. This is what I love about this process. It is the art of self awareness. And there's always something new to learn.
I have been doing this for most of my life. Not teaching, learning. I am still doing it. I have played the guitar for so long I just pick it up and play. But I began learning the violin later in life. (Also, I think it is a more difficult instrument.) Just making a sound that isn't horrible is a challenge. I pick up the violin and I have to start at the beginning again. First the bow, pay attention and let the body remember how to draw it across the strings and produce a beautiful note. Then another note. The angle has to be right, from one end to the next. The pressure, not too much, not too little. The bow speed. Things that you can only feel and are very difficult to describe. I try to teach this stuff but it is impossible to describe. The student has to feel it. They have to go through the same process. Then the left hand. Just learning how to hold the instrument and the bow is a challenge. Having to work at the violin helps me to be a better teacher. I know how difficult it is. And I can apply that to guitar as well. Whatever I can do, there is always something that is beyond my abilities. Something new to learn. Something to improve. It is an on-going process.