6 Life Hacks from My Music Journey
Learning music can be more than just a hobby, its lessons can enhance your productivity and life too!
My time for writing has been shrinking. Perhaps, because my hands are now working on something else as well… I’ve been busy practicing the Indian classical instrument, the sitar.
I started learning how to play the instrument last year, after a gap of more than 20 years. You can read more about how I revived my passion for music in the blog: Pick Up Your Dreams and Start Over Again.
So, while my mind and musical ear still have enough memory of how to play the sitar, my fingers need a lot more practice to sound smooth and melodious once again. Needless to say, it will take hours and hours of riyaaz (musical practice) to achieve the desired result.
I’m lucky to have a patient music teacher, who gives me the time to practice and paces out teaching goals. I’m also lucky to have a family who puts up with my — sometimes broken — sounds of music, at odd hours of the day and night.
Nevertheless, the journey undertaken has been a fruitful one so far, and I look forward to carrying it ahead with me for the rest of my life…hopefully, with no gaps in between.
During my music journey, I have gleaned many a life lesson, some of which I share with you in this blog. These may be simple life hacks but can go a long way in enhancing productivity and progress in any endeavour you undertake. Read on for more…
1. Approach everything as a beginner
Luckily for me, even though I had already learned some of the ragas, or musical compositions in the past, I had lost all my previous notes. So, I had nothing to refer to and was compelled to start afresh.
In life, we should try to start anything new with a clean slate, without previous baggage that may hamper learning. When you start with the approach of “I don’t know but I’m willing to learn,” you are more receptive to absorbing anything new.
Wipe out prior learning, unlearn if needed, and then get ready to relearn with more clarity and purpose.
2. Focus on the tuning
The first step, when you pick up your instrument for a practice session, is to tune it. Until the sounds of the strings are not matched to their corresponding swaras, or notes, the music you play will not sound the way it’s meant to.
This means that tuning yourself to a new frequency is essential when starting out in any field. This could translate into gaining more understanding of a particular situation, or simply acclimatizing yourself to a new environment before you go deeper into it.
Once you’re tuned in, learning and experimentation will follow easily.
3. Identify the underlying pattern
Each musical composition is made up of a set of notes. These notes are then strung together into phrases and sentences that make the bigger musical composition. These phrases and sentences are then repeated throughout the composition in different ways.
Everything in life has a certain underlying pattern. If you enter a new workplace, it already has a set way of functioning or modus operandi. If you decide to learn a new language, it has rules of grammar. If you learn a new sport, it has a certain format… You get the drift.
Once you identify the pattern underlying anything, it becomes easier to work with it and experiment if needed.
4. A little practice every day goes a long way
I remember when I just started learning, it was difficult for me to get used to practicing every day. So I’d make up for the days I didn’t practice on the days that I did. But it didn’t help. My teacher advised me, to instead practice for at least half an hour each day, but, to practice every day.
It was this regularity, that not only brought more discipline into my practice but improved my playing too. So, it’s not how much you do every day, but the fact that you do it every day, that transforms that aspect of your life.
When forming a new habit or learning something new, small daily efforts can produce quantum results.
5. Keep your ears wide open
I’ve always enjoyed listening to Indian classical music since childhood. And, when you’re learning music, it becomes more important to expose yourself to different musicians across genres.
Just like reading helps writing, listening helps music, and keeping all faculties alert helps every other area of life.
Exposure to varied experts and genres helps you gain wider knowledge in your area of specialization. Thus, keep your ears, eyes, and mind open, to new ideas, new ways of thinking, and new cultures, to aid your growth as an artist and individual.
6. Don’t compare yourself to others
My journey in music has restarted in my mid-40s. So, when I see many younger musicians on YouTube, it’s natural to feel, “What am I even doing here?” But everyone’s journey begins at a different time, and that’s totally ok.
Music, like anything else, is largely a personal journey. Hence, its progress, too, differs from individual to individual. Moreover, everyone’s styles and strengths will be different, just like every human has their own unique skill set.
Appreciate yourself for taking the first step in your journey, and know that you will create a unique path that you alone will do justice to!
As I pick up my sitar once again, and start playing the raga of the month, my fingers pain occasionally, but I feel satisfaction and joy that I am alive and able to play an instrument that I love.
Music has immense power and is more than just melody for the ears, it is a way of life and eventually permeates your complete being… So, get absorbed in its tunes, stay connected to its rhythm, and take from it all its wonderful life lessons!
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