We all do it. It’s especially clear on fast tunes, but every tune you learn goes through it.
“It” is the ugly phase. You know the ugly phase. It’s that time when, no matter what you do, it seems like you are stuck – or even going backwards – as you try to learn a tune and make it satisfying!
Your fingering falls apart. Your rhythm deserts you. Your memory fails. All the phrases sound the wrong and none are in the right order. The repeats are like torture. And when you add the harmony, nothing hangs together. It’s disheartening. It’s frustrating. And it feels like it will never end, leaving you with a tune in tatters. It’s so discouraging. It feels like the tune is winning and that you are losing.
But are you? No, you are not.
It is actually especially important for you to get through this phase, no matter how intimidating it feels. There is a lot of learning going on. Your brain is sorting through all the inputs (the notes, the fingering, the rhythm, the series of sounds, and more) and outputs (same list mostly) on its way to figuring out what goes where, when, and how. We consistently underestimate how much we’re trying to learn, how it is related and interleaved, and how challenging it can be to make music.
To weather this phase and get to the other side with a mature, satisfying tune that you can be happy with and proud to perform you, of necessity, need to keep track of what you have done and what you need to do next. How should you keep track of your progress and assure yourself that you’re getting somewhere and are “winning” the battle to learn? Document your progress! This ensures that you will see how you are winning even when you feel like you’re losing or going backwards! And it will help you see that even when you feel like you’re going backward (losing), you’re making progress (winning!).
It’s important that you do this in a manner that will help you follow your progress. This could be keeping a written journal to capture descriptions of your work and describing progress verbally. Or you could make audio (or video) recordings of your practice to hear (and see) what has changed across time. Or you can use any medium that records your thinking and your progress – draw your concept or do a puppet show! Whatever you need to see your progress over time! The form is not important. What is important is to acknowledge your progress over time and find what you should work on next to continue your development. While it is essential that this be a tool for your use, if you are actively taking lessons, you can work this with your teacher.
I know some of you have been consistent in capturing your work – let me know what form you use and any insights you might share with others. If you have kept track but haven’t been consistent – could you let me know what you think is preventing you from being consistent? And if you’ve never done anything like this before, what do you think would work for you? Looking forward to hearing about how you keep track of your wins!