Shoulder To The Wheel

I had a conversation with a parent recently, that went something like this,

Concerned Parent: Little Johnny wants to become a musician when he grows up. Do you have any advice?
Me: Practice.
CP: How much?
Me: Lots. Everyday. In my teens I would usually practice 3-4 hours a day. Some weekends, if I didn’t have sport, I would play all weekend.
CP: That sounds like a lot of effort. Could Johnny do less practice?
Me: Sure.
CP: Will that work?
Me: No. Probably not.

OK, I’ve edited down a little and changed the names involved but you can still see the contour of the conversation. Over the years I’ve had many such discussions and they usually follow a similar trajectory.

I’m a parent, so I get the fear of overloading your kids with burdens and expectations, especially at a young age. But, the reality is, in music (or any artistic field for that matter), the world is full of people who are not just willing, but keen to put in the long hours and make the sacrifices involved in becoming better. They are, for want of a better word, the “competition.”

In the most intense seasons of my playing career, I was often on a guitar upwards of six hours a day. To be honest, I’m not sure it was all that profitable to grind away like that. If I knew then what I know now, about learning processes, creative fear and music cognition, I would have practiced differently and been a little easier on myself.

But, truth be told, I would also have a different mindset. I spent a lot of my time trying to be a better guitarist, in a technical sense. But, technique is not music. If I had my time again I would spend a little less time trying to nail esoteric scales in three octave patterns and a little more time leading sing alongs at parties and figuring out what it is that makes non-musicians connect with music at an emotional (and joy-inducing) level.