Music As A Language
The Language of Music
There is something to be said about being able to speak multiple languages. Just recently on a recent trip to a country in Europe, I saw 2 brothers 3 and 7 years old, that spoke Russian and English. They knew 2 languages by this age. I have been in foreign countries before, and it is sometimes frustrating when I have to express myself and I don’t know the language. I think that Music is the same way. It is a language and it has structure, and when you understand it, it is easy to create new and beautiful songs.
So what is the best way to learn Music? This is a great question and one of my favorite topics. How do little children learn language? They learn it by listening to the people around them. They learn it and are usually able to speak it by the time they are two or three years old. In that three year span, they have been exposed to thousands of different words and sometimes even though they mispronounce their words, they are able to communicate. What happens when they make a mistake? They get corrected, and eventually they get it. Similarly when a baby is learning to walk and falls down 100 times, they never tell themselves, “Maybe this is not for me.” NO! They get up and keep walking.
So it is with the language and study of Music. It is something that the more you do and study, the easier it is to play it. Exposure to music at an early age makes it easier to acquire the musical skill as I mentioned in a previous posts – Play It For Language, Part 3. My experience is such that I was exposed to music at a very early age, and I absorbed the music and made it part of me. My family was also very much into music with all my brothers and father playing instruments and singing. We also sung together as a family. This I believe helped my understanding of music so much that I could not help but become a musician. I was surrounded by it similarly as a child that is born in Russia will learn Russian or a child in Japan will learn Japanese.
So my challenge to you all is to get out there and play. It may be difficult at first to get it to the next level with your playing, but it will get better. The more you play the better you will get. Additionally, find other players in your area or start a community group in your area that can play together and function as a resource for each other. You are the only one that can affect how far and how fast you make progress. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes and Keep On Playing It By EAR!
This is important David. Early exposure makes a difference but also being surrounded by it motivates young learners to learn the “language”.
That’s very true Robert.