Learnin’ how to learn
Perhaps the title of this post should be ‘relearning how to learn’ or ‘relearning how to think straight’.
A few years ago, I realized that my thinking and learning was pretty dysfunctional and kinda stuck in a rut. I think this is mainly due to public schools and the university environment that I came up in academically.
I believe that in public schools, teachers have to devise a way to teach stuff so that everyone in the class can hopefully learn it. Then there are a few ’slow’ students who have trouble learning the information, because perhaps their talents lie more with music or art or something- for some reason or another, the style of learning where there is a teacher in front of 25 students doesn’t work for everyone.
I consider myself mentally sound, and easily able to learn stuff and retain stuff. Yet, every day before I went to school I had a stomachache and a feeling of doom. Why wasn’t I THRILLED to be going to school and learning?
The reason is that school didn’t work for me. Specifically, what didn’t work is having to learn stuff I wasn’t interested in, then remember it for a test a week later. Then, if you don’t remember the stuff, you fail. Of course I’m simplifying here!
The fact that I spent my first 21 years learning this way is already sort of crappy. But what’s worse is that I took that style of learning into my adult life as a blueprint for the world. I felt that failure was always around the corner. Every decision was crucial, and there was absolutely no room for intuition or going on a gut feeling.
Also carried over from school is the feeling of a hierarchy or order among people. For instance, maybe somebody can play bass faster and more technically than me, and I would think they are a higher or better person. Or someone would be chosen to do a gig over me, and it was like a failure in Gym class to be picked for a basketball team because I’m clumsy and awkward.
As I mature, I’m finding that my thoughts are like a river. Currents may go this way and that, and it is really bad to try to stop the flow or redirect the river in an unnatural way. What this means in practical terms is that I may hear a song while shopping in the drug store, then two years later I can play it on bass at a gig. (rather than having to learn the song note for note from sheet music, then stressing out about whether I’m going to mess it up at a show). I’ve learned that music is not like an exam in school, and as long as you put love and enthusiasm behind it, it’s gonna sound good.
Also, I was horrible at history all through school. But now, I may pick up a book on Thomas Jefferson and read it voraciously and enjoy the heck out of it. Probably because I’m choosing to read it on my own, and I’ve finally reached a point in my life where that kind of person is really interesting to me.
Another element of my new style of thinking is to always be open to the possibility that you are going to succeed. If I’m trying something new, I’m going to do it with the confidence that I’m probably going to do it right — nail it! That’s a lot different than when I used to do stuff timidly, and nervous that I might mess it up. Probably the best example of this is when I’m on stage with a jazz group, and someone suggests that we play a song that I’ve never played before. I just say ‘OK, let’s do it’. I rarely ever say that I’d rather not try the song.
I’d like to end this post with a quote from Francois Rabbath’s Nouvelle Technique De La Contrabasse:
“The Word Difficult. We learn to play an instrument because we have chosen it and because we want to derive pleasure from it. The idea of difficulty must therefore not be instilled into a student, since later he will overcome this. To play a wrong note, when learning, is not a serious mistake. The chief thing, when learning, is to be able to obtain a sound from the instrument with happiness, with pleasure. When a child learns to walk, we know he will fall down until the day he succeeds. The same goes for the musician: if we forbid him to play a wrong note, making him repeat the passage until it is correct, he becomes paralysed and will always make the same mistake. He must be allowed to play naturally, and made to understand that the most important thing is to express himself by playing the notes without stiffness. The musical instrument is presented to future musicians haled with difficulty. Everything is difficult: the holding of the bow, the holding of the instrument, music, etc.
The word ‘difficult’ is passed on from generation to generation. Its power is so radical that, from the outset, the player is oppressed by a fear that he drags behind him all his life like a ball and chain, making any natural approach to the instrument impossible for him. We can add to this reluctance on the part of most teachers to help technique to progress: a wall of concrete a hundred metres thick is automatically created; it can only be breached by striking the word ‘difficult’ from the vocabulary.
I hope that this tutor will prove to you that what you cannot do today, you will do tomorrow.
F.R.”
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