A Student of Music

For the first time in my life, I am learning about music. While searching for a new Kindle book to read, I stumbled upon Music Theory, From Absolute Beginner to Expert that I have just begun to read, and How to Read Music: For Beginners – Simple and Effective Guide to Understanding and Reading Music With Ease, that I have yet to open. Both books by Nicolas Carter. This may surprise those of you who know and listen to my music. But as I’ve admitted to anyone who asks, I play everything by ear and, though I had to have learned to read music during Junior High when I played the cornet and French horn, very little stuck with me.

After reading only two chapters from Music Theory, I am already learning; tone and notes, amplitude and volume, frequency and pitch, rhythm and time. The author does a good job of relating subjects to piano, and more importantly for me, the guitar. So not only does he discuss white and black keys, but also strings and frets. Works for me!

As with other subjects, learning seems easier now with life’s experiences. I was not a good student in school. Between mild ADD and my constant battle with OCD (neither officially diagnosed), I just couldn’t stay engaged with reading and applied learning. I now know that I am a visual learner, and I learn by doing (kinesthetic). Thus, music by ear (not to be confused with auditory learning). Recently, though, I am reading both fiction and non-fiction, and find that I understand “subjects” better just because I have had some experience with them in life.

Now I am excited to see if and how my music improves with new insights. But I need to keep reading to see how the learning applies. Learning to read music will also be helpful. I plan to get another keyboard (gave mine to the grandchildren) sometime next year to assist my composing and add depth of instruments to my recordings. I enjoyed “messing around” with it, but I assume that understanding the keyboard and being able to read and write music will be helpful in those efforts.

I am happy to be immersing myself deeper in this new venture in my life. I’ve been playing around with new riffs during practice. I’m not sure where they will lead, but it feels good to be creative again, especially while polishing my current repertoire. I will also share that it feels good to be looking forward to new experiences. As I stated earlier, I look forward, while evaluating the past and living in the present. Not only a student of music, but also a student of life.

Peace and Love!