Instead of my usual advice about how to succeed in music lessons, I have been explaining about my success philosophy. Understanding
these ideas will help you have more success in using the "practical" stuff that I usually write about.
Previously [see the February issue of the Log or visit www.kenmay.com] I wrote about the three mental processes that produce a way of thinking that will bring success in music lessons and all
other areas of life: Learning, Exercising, and Teaching. And then I gave an explanation of the first of these mental processes:
Learning. Now I want to write about the second one: Exercising. In the context of the success philosophy I am outlining here,
the term exercising refers not just to a physical workout, but to any use of knowledge or skill.
"Use it or lose it." That’s an old cliché that I would like hear more often. Then maybe we would remember that in
order to maintain and develop the learning we have acquired, we need to put it to use.
Of course one way to use any learning, such as the knowledge of how to play a musical instrument, is to practice. At your
weekly music class, the instructor teaches you a new song or technique and then by doing it daily, you can master it and be
ready to learn something new when your next class comes around. This is an approach that is used in every learning process,
no matter what the subject.
But another way to progress in learning is to take advantage of any opportunity for an actual performance. Whether it’s
playing your musical instrument at a party or using your budding foreign language skills to chat with a native speaker, this
is an excellent way to advance in any field of study. The exercise of learning through performance will increase your ability
to stay focused and will also build your self-confidence.
Every field of study has a useful and useable benefit for our lives. This means that we can do more than carry our learning
around in our heads. We can find its use. And by using it, we will expand its usefulness and its scope.
There’s so much more I could write about Exercising knowledge and skills, but here I can only give a brief
explanation of each of the three mental processes of success. Next time, in Music Lessons and Success, Part Three,
I will explain the one that is all about Teaching.
