I orginally posted this on the PipeChat mailing list almost five years ago, at age 15. I’ve changed my mind on many things since then, but this post still represents my views fairly well. If you find it interesting, do read the 2001 book The Hacker Ethic, in which Pekka Himanen provides some extremely thought-provoking perspectives on this and related issues.
We need to ask ourselves one very fundamental question: Is learning how to make music (in this case, organ music) different from learning other things?
The slum quarters of Brazil produces some of the best soccer players on earth. Before being picked up by professional clubs as teenagers, they’ve been playing in the streets with their home-made balls, every day, often for more than 10 years.
Norwegian kids are enrolled in clubs from 6 years of age, getting to play organized matches, guided by trained coaches. Relatively systematically, they’re taught the various kicks and tackles through excercises, being “awarded” with some free playing at the end of the session.
Every year, Norwegian and Brazilian 16-year olds meet during Norway Cup in Oslo. Every year, the Brazilians win hands-down.
Most people master their native language(s) far better than they’ll ever master any musical instrument. Language is probably the most advanced logical structure a human being ever learns. Still, this is difficult to realize before learning a foreign language.
One of my best friends fled together with his family from the civil war in Bosnia-Hercegovina, eventually settling in Norway when he was 10. After four months he spoke Norwegian fluently, and five years later it’s totally impossible to note a foreign accent. He learned Norwegian like he had learned his native tongue—by imitation and courage to speak, even if he didn’t know all the words yet.
I dropped out of school some years ago and have missed hundreds of English lessons. I haven’t done any homework since third grade. All that I know of the English language is what I’ve aquired by reading, writing, and speaking it.
It seems to me that most things can be learned trough imitating, doing, failing, and correcting—and that what ultimately counts is sheer quantity. When learning the organ, “quantity” would not be just time spent practising at the bench, but every organ-related brain process being executed—consciously or not.
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Kommentarar til «Is learning the organ different from learning other things?»
16. november 2009 klokka 11:35
Eg tykkjer dette er eit interessant synspunkt. Det irriterer meg grenselaust at både jazz- og klassiskfolk konsekvent neglisjerer verdien av alt som kan karakteriserast som ein «organ[musikk]-related brain process», til fordel for teknisk øving. Mi største frykt er å øve til eg døyr. Og i den moderne musikkverdi så er det sjeldan dei mest teknisk dyktige utøvarane, men langt oftare dei beste ideane som vinn fram. Då Leif Ove Andsnes var på fjernsyn for ei tid sidan, snakka han om alle millionane av utøvarar i Kina som heldt høgare nivå enn mest nokon i Europa. Men kva slags nivå?
16. november 2009 klokka 12:19
Ja, vi ser at veldig mange er i stand til å tileigna seg fantastisk teknikk, jf. kinesiske pianistar. Nokre få trur at musikaliteten kjem av seg sjølv berre ein jobbar nok med teknikk. Langt meir problematisk er det med dei mange som trur at musikalitet og formidlingsevne kan tileignast etter omlag dei same prinsippa som god teknikk. Det er skilnad mellom handverk og kunst. Sistnemnde føreset ei sjølvstendig røyst.
Sjå forresten intervjuet med den ikonoklastiske organisten Cameron Carpenter i NY Times førre veke: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/arts/music/15schw.html?_r=1&ref=music
13. november 2009 klokka 17:08
[...] Se også: Intervju med Jarle Fagerheim (18) fra Moss Avis Is learning the organ different from learning other things? (Jarle, 15) [...]