Avalon Falling

Well it’s been a while, got kinda tired of the whole blog thing…well not exactly tired, but sidetracked. Anyways, there have been some interesting developments, one of which is the establishment of what I like to call the “Legendary Music School”. This is not the official name, nor is it one of the candidates for the name, per se… My friend from University and I were thinking about an original way to make some kind of a difference. The idea of teaching music was brought up, seeing as my friend was a professional, classically trained piano player, and I had, albeit through a much different route, also learned piano. The idea is currently in it’s planning stages; various implementation strategies, material that will be covered, how accelerated the learning process will be, etc., are all being considered. Oh yes, and this music school will be completely free, as it is a volunteer operation, and that’s the most exciting part, as well as the foundation on which we are confident rapid growth of the school will occur. Well then, that’s it for now, stay tuned for more in the near future.

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Anytime anybody asks me, I usually say I’ve been playing piano for 11 years, and there are two possible reactions. First is the simple “Woah”, incredulous stare, and then that’s about it. The second, which comes from somebody who “knows” something about music will be, “Oh, so you can sight read and _____________ (insert any complex musical technique)?”. I used to beat around the bush in reply to this question, but I’ve grown to simply say “No”. At this point, the asker will become rather perplexed, and will utter any series of words to express their confusion. After listening for a bit, I will add “I play by ear”. The exact meaning of this statement has become unknown to me over the years. I used to say it with full confidence, in that if I did not read notes, I played by ear. Notwithstanding, the person asking the question will then say “oohhhh…okay”, and may continue a conversation about music with you. However, for the whole time, they will act as if they have some esoteric knowledge, some great wisdom, something that sets them higher than you, and this will become apparent very quickly in the conversation. I nevertheless remain perfectly respectful in the conversation, unless they full-out call me something along the lines of a “fake” piano player, at which point I say “at least I didn’t spend tens of thousands of dollars on piano lessons”.

You may be somewhat put off by this statement. “The nerve of this boy”, you may be saying, “To rebuke the whole establishment of “academies” and “scholars” of pianists who will pass on their knowledge to children [for a fee]“. You may say, “You’ve never taken lessons…what do you know?”, though you would be incorrect in this statement, as I have actually taken piano lessons, for nearly three months, very recently. What I have learned is, quite simply, the great majority of the things that are taught in piano lessons can be self-taught from the books that you will also have to buy (they don’t mention the books until you start). Now, for a 4 year old just starting piano, the lessons will consist of, for the most part, proper fingering techniques, how to do scales, intervals, stuff like that. Very simple, very time consuming (12 basic major scales, countless variations on this theme). Later, songs are made using these scales and intervals, all the while stressing the proper fingerings. This is how the instructor “teaches” you the song. They put the sheet music in front of you, then they play it (around a minute) then you must go through the notes, trying to figure out which key each black dot on the staff corresponds to (10 seconds per note for a beginner). Then you’ll forget what you were doing after about 5 notes, and will have to invariably go back and re memorize the notes (because you aren’t really reading the sheet music yet). Before you know it, the lesson’s over, and you’re pretty much the same except your shoulders hurt, your eyes are stinging, and you are 20-50 dollars poorer (that’s the low-end price).

Anyways, that’s how it goes until maybe a year in, when it only takes you 5 seconds per note, and you’ve been moved up to slightly harder songs (also longer, thus wasting more time each instance the instructor plays it). In actuality, all this reading of the sheet music and trying to find out which key corresponds to which note can be done AT HOME. Proper fingering, scales, intervals… all that jazz, comes with playing songs.

I got my first keyboard when I was around 6 or 7, and I would spend hours at a time just fiddling around with it. In truth, the first things I started doing were intervals (seeing how different pairs of notes sounded depending on the distance they were from each other). I would find the intervals that sounded good together, and which point I realized I could play with two hands. At this point I was one month into playing. After I had begun to combine intervals, I realized that when I put some with others close to each other, they would sound good. I had discovered chords. I began to worry that I would forget everything I had discovered, so I devised a numbering system for all the notes and their respective chords. I would call a chord “1-happy” if it started on note 1 (which I had designated “E” as) and sounded happy (which I later found was major), or 1-sad, which is actually a “minor chord”. Anyways, I then learned about scales and arpeggios and cool sounding combinations and progressions of chords. I then learned that if I do chords and stuff with the left hand, and single notes with the right hand, I could make melodies, and later, songs. I then began to make a multitude of songs…and I would memorize them. Over the years I learned the intracies of the keyboard, the patterns that underly its simple appearance. I also began to learn mainstream songs. I would play them on my computer, and imitate them. At first it would take me so long that I would give up, having only learned an intro or a verse. Eventually, with a lot of practice, I was able to learn whole songs in this way, and in time only needed two to three playthroughs of the song to get a grasp of it.

All by myself, without any instructors or books or anything, I learned piano, and I can even read sheet music, it just took some practice. Music is written into our minds. Our very brains operate in a rhythm which is very precise and crucial to our complexity. Anybody can learn piano in this way, and in ways, I, and anyone who learns in this way, has an advantage. Most piano lesson veterans are nothing when taken away from their sheet music, taken away from their theory, and put in a situation where they have to improvise, or be original. Most of them don’t understand the connections and patterns, and thus cannot pass the limits that were set for them by their instructors.

In my self-teaching, I came across a lot of things about mainstream music that did somewhat disturb me, which I may post about in the future. Until then, buy your children, or yourself, a piano or keyboard, or a guitar, or a violin, or whatever other insturment you can think of, and learn on your own. Practice makes perfect.

I understand a lot of people may be insulted by this post. Please comment about it, and I will try to rectify the discrepancy:)

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