Well, my first post in the new year. I'm definitely not going to let this be another post about me whining about how depressed I am. This post has a pretty strong point to make.
It all started when I was talking with Abhishek Pohankar on google talk after my squash game yesterday. He has recently started playing Sitar. Although not Ravi shankar or Anoushka Shankar level, I still wanted to hear him play. (Because I'm a good friend and because I admire the things other people do which I can't) But I was in the college and didn't have skype. So we were talking about how it is important for someone learning a musical instrument to know to read music notations.
Now I am a big advocate of 'if you want to do something, do it right, do it from the basics, don't leave anything out.' But Abhishek believes one doesn't need to be able to read music notations to play an instrument. His ideology is, if he keeps messing around with the instrument enough, he will be able to successfully imitate a sound, chord, or music. Okay, that's a start.. but where are you gonna get with that?
The way to explain it would be to think about learning a language.. let's say French. Unless one knows the alphabet, he cannot spell words or write sentences. Neither can he read anything written in French. Imagine someone who doesn't know the French alphabet, and has only been imitating words he has heard spoken by other people. The words are like little sounds a musical instrument makes.. and the sentences, a series of these sounds put together in a way so as to sound pleasant/meaningful.
Unless someone has been properly taught the language, his pronunciation could be a little off. The way he's putting a sentence together, might not make perfect grammatical sense. Sure he could repeat something he has heard spoken by someone else, but he can't express his own feelings. When others are confused about what he actually said, he can't even write it down for anyone to read and understand what he's trying to speak. That is not a very pleasant situation to be in.
Hence, I rest my case. If I were to start learning a musical instrument, EVER, I would want to start with the basics. Like I want to do with everything. There! First sensible, post of 2009. completed 5 days after it actually took place. phew!
so true... depends on the aspiration of the person on learning the instrument.. there are some, who just want to play for short term, or in between their hectic lives. And there are some, who do want to learn, but dont find the time to learn, or are too busy in their life that they buy learning books to learn on their own, but never happen. :D
ReplyDeleteIts true that you need to start from the basics. But if someone is born with that talent then he can learn stuff faster than any normal person and can even learn new stuff aka self learning.
ReplyDeleteThere is a big difference between learning a language and learning music. Its not a fair comparison. Learning a new language is way more complex.
"But Abhishek believes one doesn't need to be able to read music notations to play an instrument. His ideology is, if he keeps messing around with the instrument enough, he will be able to successfully imitate a sound, chord, or music. Okay, that's a start.. but where are you gonna get with that?"
Well that helps too but its more effective if you start from scratch.
I can give an example. Once I was trying out the harmonium just for fun. I remembered this tune from Toon Tamasha and tried it. In a few minutes I got it right. Noone taught me that or told me how to do that. Heck that was the first time I even touched the instrument. So you should not underestimate or evaluate your sitar playing friend. He can learn it the way he wants, and yes he will progress if he does continue to tinker around. Tinkering around could also teach you the basics, depending on how you do it.
"Although not Ravi Shankar or Anoushka Shankar level". Come on! You could have just said he's a beginner. Sheesh!
There are also new things you can learn on your own while practicing that you may not even be taught in class.
So, in one way, Abhishek's method can work, depending on how he does it.
see this movie called 'august rush' if u havent yet. its like a super cool musical talent thing but cool enough to inspire!
ReplyDelete@suju okay, thanks. I'll add that movie to 'the list'
ReplyDelete