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Looper's Delight
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I totally understand it. I was a music major for about a month in college. While learning the theory was good, I also found it was taking out the sense of wonder that's a major appeal of music to me. I decided instead to be "self-taught". Even though: --I never learned to read music, which is like being an American who doesn't know English --I never developed the muscle accuracy that many musicians have --I don't know the chords or advanced theory --I knew I was giving up on the idea of being a professional musician ...I felt that if I knew how it would all worked, it would cease to be interesting to me. So instead, I took one piano class to teach me some nuts and bolts, then went out on my own, so to speak. I'm still glad I did, because: --I still think music is interesting. --I got to spend the same amount of time focusing on the elements of music that fascinated me, like sound color, using different sound generation techniques, saturation, etc. --I don't feel like I'm competing with other musicians on a continuum of best to worst. [Not saying that most people do, but it's something I used to do, and I didn't measure up too well.] :) --In many cases, the things I don't know in music are opportunities to explore at my own pace, and only if I want to. --I like the idea of musicians having different skill sets and areas of specialty. --15 or so years in, I can honestly say I have a unique sound identity. Not good or bad, necessarily, but I definitely sound like me. That's the kind of musician I hoped to be when I got started. (Though younger me thought I'd be more technically proficient.) -- Matt Davignon mattdavignon@gmail.com www.ribosomemusic.com Podcast! http://ribosomematt.podomatic.com http://www.youtube.com/user/ribosomematt > Kaylon went: >> >> Thanks man. I ask if you survived because the question popped up when my >> english teacher said he first went to college for music but said that it >> stripped all the fun out of it for him so he changed his major. > Then Rick Walker was all: > It's interesting that you say this. > > I've had so many students go off to music colleges at the end of their > high > school experience > and I've heard so many stories about how that experienced really got in > the > way of their > experience of the music they loved (not all, of course). > > It's always occurred to me: you could save so much money if you > found > an accomplished musician > in your area and took intensive lessons from them (2-5 a week) in a sort > of > musical boot camp > that would give you such a much deeper and richer experience......forcing > you to learn at a much higher > rate. You would not end up with a degree doing this, but that > degree is > really only useful if you > intend to teach music in a learning institution. > > I've had several students take 'bootcamp' classes from > me........several a > week of really intensive study. > They always learn a tremendous amount in a short amount of time......and > we're talking hundreds of dollars > or perhaps a few thousand dollars NOT tens of thousands of dollars which > is > what Music College or Universities will set you back. > > On top of that, you have constant feedback and personal attention for > your > process which is very difficult to get in a place like , say, the Berklee > School of Music. > > The one thing that you might miss out on in this example would be the > high > caliber of fellow students that you'd encounter at a place like Berklee > or > Julliard (or any other good musical University). > > rick walker >