I started to learn guitar at the age of 16 after being infuenced by pop and rock music which is hot at that time. At the beginning I practiced 1 hour a day. But when I got serious at later age, I practiced 4 hours everyday. Sometimes more.
Fast forward two decades and I’m still just an average guitar player. Despite playing gigs every week, I couldn’t seem to improve beyond a certain point. That is, until one day, it all fell into place. Thanks to my curiosity in education and the wonderful music teachers I’ve met along the way, I finally found a way to rapidly improve my music skills.
At the age of 40, I decided to test this method on myself. I picked up a new instrument that I knew little about: the drums. After just a few classes, I signed up to take the Rockschool Exam at grade 4. In just 6 months, I went from zero to exam day. I applied this method and to my delight, it worked, and I passed the exam with satisfying result.
So here are the method to rapidly improve your music skills.
Day 1: Acquiring New Skill
When your music teacher gives you a new task, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and uncertain at the begining. You might struggle to hear the music that you play correctly or play it cleanly. That’s normal. Start slow. Just keep going and be patient. You got one week time to present your exercise to your teacher. Just remember, learning is progressive. You will notice that you sound better each time you play.
Day 3: Memorize it
When comes to 3rd or 4th days, you will notice that you play better and starting to remember your pieces. Your muscle memorize the task for you. Now that you can gradually get up to speed. You can start to focus on certain difficult part. You can start to freeing up your brain to focus on other things such as tone, dynamic, movement, tempo and all. Remember, repetition is key.
Day 5: Application
Now it’s time to apply what you’ve learned. This is where the fun begins! You can play along with songs or backing tracks. You can assume that you are performing. It may not be perfect at first and that’s normal. Keep trying untill you can play the whole pieces correctly. Even better if you can play for some audience like your parents or siblings and let them enjoy your music and get some comment.
Day 6: Check Point
When you practice enough, you’ll feel a sense of freedom when playing. You will be able to play without stress And you will also want to play more because it’s so satisfying. This is when you’ll feel the urge to record your music or show it to teacher. Or you have the feeling to play for real audience.
Now that you have completed a week journey. The process starts again but harder. Although you received your delayed dopamine in within a week, it will still be enough keeps you motivated. The challenge is achieved. The problem is solved. And you can enjoy playing your music. That is why some students can learn happily with good result while some student get stressed out for the next class.
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