No Wrong Notes
MUSIC LIFE isn’t about being a great musician, even though I believe it’s the fastest path to becoming a great musician. It’s about the path itself. It’s that you can learn to become great if you want to… and that you learn to find your true perspective within that path.
The Practice
The practice is not just musical notes, although notes are involved. It’s learning how to look at those notes, then realizing that there are different ways you can focus your energy and perspective on those notes. It’s not, is this the “right” note? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that question from students, “is this the right note?”
What is the “Right” Note?
Have you ever been surprised when taking a turn down a street you didn’t intended to turn on? Or discovered a new path to the same destination? Have you ever been so enamored with that “wrong” turn that it changed the place you wanted to go?
Have you ever decided to drive slow and take your time down an old road that you’ve been on more times than you can count? Meander through the winding turns and see if you could notice anything different and new?
What about fast? Have you ever driven way over the speed limit when no one was around, just to prove something to yourself?
That’s what I mean about “right” notes… maybe there are BETTER questions we can ask ourselves about how we play the notes.
The Better Question
Try asking yourself… was I in control of the note? Did the note surprise me? Was I delighted by the surprise? Was the note played at the speed I wanted? Could I have played it faster? Slower?
Did I have INTENTION when the note was played?
Now, you may be saying to yourself… but I’m trying to play Pachelbel's Canon, or sing like Steve Perry from Journey. Don’t get me wrong, imitation is a beautiful and helpful part of learning, but it is really only preparation for the adventure ahead, not the adventure itself. We imitate so that we can build upon what we’ve learned, so that we can innovate old expressions into new creations, otherwise our expression turns to plagiarism and ultimately, we miss an opportunity to discover the creativity that lives inside of us and trade it in for a party trick.
No Wrong Notes
There are no wrong notes. Only choices and how you feel about them. Practice. Practice making choices on your instrument. In your life. Give intention to it and you’ll find that every intentional choice leads to another and every note can be played with a new focus.