I often tell people everyone can learn to play an instrument, and it is true. Another thing I often tell people is that they will be surprised about how quickly they can learn.
The one thing that I often don't tell my students is how long it will take to learn to play well. I think most people think they can put in a couple lessons and then be Eric Clapton or Billy Joel, but it takes a lot of hard work if you want to be really good.
So the other day I was working in my garden, and there is an old grape vine there that someone must have planted several years ago. Last year, I didn't really do anything to the grapevine, and surprise, surprise, it did not yield any grapes!
So this year, I was wondering what I should do about the grapevine if I want to get grapes. I started reading up on it, and found out from some growers that if I really wanted grapes, I should have been pruning it waay back in February. Well, I didn't do that, so I thought all was lost for this year.
But the other day, I was messing around in my garden, and noticed a tremendous number of grape clusters. Now not too far away from my grapevine, I have some tomatoes planted. I had been picking off suckers, and trimming extra branches that they don't need, and decided to give pruning my grapevine in the same way.
As I was pruning, I was thinking about the Bible passage, where Jesus tells his disciples that He is the vine and they are the branches, and about the other passage where He said that all branches that do not produce fruit will be cut off and thrown into the fire. As I was thinking about that, it occurred to me that if I had started pruning in February, I would have no way to know what branches produced fruit or not. So that made me think that way back in Jesus' day, vine-dressers must have started pruning the branches once the fruit started to appear. So I just hacked away.
Later, it seemed like I only had a few branches left, but they were full of grapes!!! I'm hoping that later this summer I will have a bunch of good grapes to eat and make jams with! But that got me thinking about music lessons.
First of all, I don't know how long that grape vine has been in the ground, but for two seasons, I haven't seen any fruit, and then suddenly there is some. I did a little research and found that most grapes take at least a couple years to produce. That's a lot like musicians. It usually takes a good two years before someone is really doing well. Yes, there are some prodigy's out there, but typically it takes a little more time than just a few lessons.
So don't get discouraged if you were learning a lot at first, and then it seems you hit a standstill, it takes time. Just like when you plant the grapevine, you might get some leaves at first, but grapes are a way's off.
Secondly, I was thinking about pruning. You have to prune the grapevine to get fruit, and music lessons are similar. Many teachers have a set method they want to teach you because "it's the proper way." But think about it. How often do you think Eric Clapton sits around playing Bach Sonatas. I'm not even sure Eric Clapton can play a Bach Sonata, but then think about how often Andre Segovia sat around playing Robert Johnson blues songs. I'm sure he never did. You have to ask yourself, what style of music do you want to play? If you want to play blues and rock, don't go to a classical teacher, and vice versa.
Cut off, or prune, the techniques that do not apply to the style you want to learn. If you do that, you won't waste your time developing techniques that might actually hamper your progress in the direction you want to go. I spent a lot of time learning classical piano, and eventually found that 75% of what I learned had to be dumped if I wanted to play rock and blues. Same way with the guitar. You just have to study what you want to play. And then if you later want to learn another style, add that info to what you already know, but you will grow quicker if you study the stuff that motivates you.
Finally, I found out that if I want my grapes to grow well, I have to give it some fertilizer once in a while. I have to feed it stuff that will help it develop. Musicians are like this as well. We need other music to feed on to nourish our creative side. Spend your time listening to lots and lots of music that will help you develop!
So those are some tips that I learned from my grapevine. I hope they help you as you become the musician you were meant to be!
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