My kayagum lessons started up again today for another 12 week session (at 30,000 won definitely the best music instruction deal going). I am taking the intermediate class and has already gone far beyond what I learned in the fall. We had just started getting into some of the ornamentation that is at core of Korean music, especially on the kayagum (though in my untutored way I hear similar sounds in the singing, I need to talk to an ethnomusicologist and get some detail on this).
We spent the whole time today learning new right hand picking techniques and running through the left hand noting and vibrato techniques. The left is all fairly easy to get, it is only a matter of remembering what the little squiggles and symbols on top of the western style musical notation mean, there about 15 core additions, but they aren't especially hard. Of course getting the vibrato right and noting the strings (which are elevated on the bridges) accurately without hesitation is going to take quite a bit of practice.
The right hand, though, is another story. Most of these techniques were entirely new to me and many of them are quite difficult actually, though of course they look really easy when someone is doing them. Part of it is getting used to holding my hand in a totally different rest position, kind of half-moon shape, which someone in the class showed me. It is great to have these new challenging things to practice, always welcome even if pretty frustrating at times. I feel like I am just starting to glimpse some understanding of Korean music, so looking forward to really learning it.
I've been reading a fairly interesting book by Daniel Levitin called This is Your Brain On Music, which is a discussion of cognitive science and the elusive core of musical skill and appreciation. It is filled with good anecdotes and some interesting dioscussion about how the brain works and processes musical information (though perhaps a bit cloying at times --I am interested in reading Oliver Sacks' new book on the same thing when I get a chance, sure to be rich in good anecdotes).
Levitin discusses the 10,000 hour theory of expertise, which argues (persuasively it seems) that what we consider talent in every field from music and sports to writing and crime can almost always be attributed in fact to 10,000 hours of practice (20 hours a week for 10 years). Levitin writes "no one has yet found a case in which true world class expertise was accomplished in less time. It seems that it takes the brain this long to assimilate all that is needs to know to achieve true mastery." (p. 197)
I have always thought playing an instrument was just passion for music + having an instrument + time, and it turns out that this is essentially the case (though my time estimate was a bit low). I definitely believe the 10,000 rule in many other fields of endeavor, particularly in my own field. As for music, I play a bunch of instruments but don't think I have put 10,000 hours into any of them except maybe the banjo, which not incidentally is my major instrument, though I am not a master. I don't know if staying up all night playing in jams counts toward the 10,000 hour total, though it should.
Now that I have learned this 10,000 rule I am free of all worry, I will be able to play the things I want, I just need to find enough hours in the week to get it all down. Who know actual mastery rather than mere proficiency could come in only 10 years with the commitment of a half-time job. Bring it on!
We spent the whole time today learning new right hand picking techniques and running through the left hand noting and vibrato techniques. The left is all fairly easy to get, it is only a matter of remembering what the little squiggles and symbols on top of the western style musical notation mean, there about 15 core additions, but they aren't especially hard. Of course getting the vibrato right and noting the strings (which are elevated on the bridges) accurately without hesitation is going to take quite a bit of practice.
The right hand, though, is another story. Most of these techniques were entirely new to me and many of them are quite difficult actually, though of course they look really easy when someone is doing them. Part of it is getting used to holding my hand in a totally different rest position, kind of half-moon shape, which someone in the class showed me. It is great to have these new challenging things to practice, always welcome even if pretty frustrating at times. I feel like I am just starting to glimpse some understanding of Korean music, so looking forward to really learning it.
I've been reading a fairly interesting book by Daniel Levitin called This is Your Brain On Music, which is a discussion of cognitive science and the elusive core of musical skill and appreciation. It is filled with good anecdotes and some interesting dioscussion about how the brain works and processes musical information (though perhaps a bit cloying at times --I am interested in reading Oliver Sacks' new book on the same thing when I get a chance, sure to be rich in good anecdotes).
Levitin discusses the 10,000 hour theory of expertise, which argues (persuasively it seems) that what we consider talent in every field from music and sports to writing and crime can almost always be attributed in fact to 10,000 hours of practice (20 hours a week for 10 years). Levitin writes "no one has yet found a case in which true world class expertise was accomplished in less time. It seems that it takes the brain this long to assimilate all that is needs to know to achieve true mastery." (p. 197)
I have always thought playing an instrument was just passion for music + having an instrument + time, and it turns out that this is essentially the case (though my time estimate was a bit low). I definitely believe the 10,000 rule in many other fields of endeavor, particularly in my own field. As for music, I play a bunch of instruments but don't think I have put 10,000 hours into any of them except maybe the banjo, which not incidentally is my major instrument, though I am not a master. I don't know if staying up all night playing in jams counts toward the 10,000 hour total, though it should.
Now that I have learned this 10,000 rule I am free of all worry, I will be able to play the things I want, I just need to find enough hours in the week to get it all down. Who know actual mastery rather than mere proficiency could come in only 10 years with the commitment of a half-time job. Bring it on!
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