Learning an instrument will hopefully become natural
Musical autonomy To become musically autonomous one needs to have absorbed music on a deep, sub-conscious level. A long time ago a teacher of mine said, “The real instrument is here,” as he pointed to his ear. I now understand what he meant. Once we get past the physicality of playing a stringed instrument (which is not to be underestimated, nor is it insurmountable) the language of music becomes our final goal. There are only 12 notes and a finite number of chords and progressions. We work at training the ear to hear the differences and to understand the relationships from one note/chord to the next. I associate it with learning another language. I have learned Portuguese and Spanish and traveled to countries that speak only these languages. While I was preparing for my journeys, taking lessons and practicing, I thought that I was going to be able to communicate. However, when I arrived in Brazil and the Dominican Republic I realized that I was unable to communicate. Confined to my limited vocabulary and my memorized “common sentences”, I had no way to think and interact on the spot. But what I had the hardest time with was hearing what people were saying. No one had taught me how to really listen: I could not tell where one word ended and another began. People either spoke too fast for me or the different regional dialects threw me off. But I gradually learned to hear the words, then the sentences, and then the ideas. I learned to improvise – to come up with new ways of speaking on the spot. These are the same things musicians are working on: developing a strong musical ear -understanding the underlying structure of melody, chords, and rhythm – all to be able to communicate with other musicians. Understanding all of this reduces dependence on written music and helps to make it become a more natural, spontaneous and autonomous activity.