We recently posted a video link on our Facebook page from Victor Wooten and TED-Ed on Music as a Language.
Wooten introduces the video by stating that music is a language, and, just like verbal language, it serves as a sign of expression. It can be read or written, and it can make you laugh or cry. In fact, sometimes music can be better than spoken word, because it doesn’t need to be understood to be effective.
Is it possible to learn music the same way you learned to speak? Absolutely! We just have to change our perceptions…
How did you learn to speak? You were probably a baby and you learned to speak with your parents. Mistakes were embraced. The more you tried; the more your parents would smile. Imagine trying to learn how to talk, if you were only allowed to speak once or twice a week for a half-hour? It would take forever! Instead, you spoke to adults. As Wooten says, you were able to “jam” with professionals – all the time!
If we approached music the same way, we would learn it in the same short time that we learned to speak! Here are a few key points to consider in making music learning more like a language:
- Embrace mistakes – when students are first learning and exploring, there are no “wrong” notes.
- Encourage students to perform with other musicians as often as possible!
- Allow children to “play” with their instrument(s) more than they practice.
- A language works best when we have something interesting to say – let’s discover what our students what to express!
Too many rules can slow down a new student – let’s allow new musicians time to explore and discover on their own! They can learn the “grammar” of music later. At Musicians Mobile, we embrace this idea, and our teachers are dedicated to your students and their musical explorations.
Wishing you Happy Holidays and Many Happy Musical Memories from your Musicians Mobile family!
Musicians Mobile proudly serves California families in San Jose, Cupertino, Campbell, Santa Clara, Saratoga, and Los Gatos. We specialize in guitar, bass, ukulele, percussion, drums, piano, and voice lessons.