The Reason For These 4 Hacks
Most people only see music as a form of art and expression. Music is form of communication just like English, Spanish, French, or any other language. To bring both of these points together you’re communicating your art through the language of music.
Well there are 4 ways to truly be fluent in any language. We’ve been taught these 4 ways in our native language but I can’t say the same about EVERY musician. If you use these “hacks” to practice music with the approach of a language, you’re unlocking hidden insights to musical fluency! Hopefully, this will open your mind and connect the dots of what’s been missing in your musical journey.
The 4 Hacks:
Understanding that you’re communicating your art through the language of music. So you must know how to:You have to know how to read sheet music… Learning the language of music without sheet music like is trying to expand your vocabulary without a dictionary. You’ll be introduced to so many new concepts and approaches. Things will be laid out and structured for you to succeed. There are a lot of different approaches for reading sheet music as a Guitarist! From the music staff, to tablature, to lead sheets, to jazz charts. The more you familiarize yourself with these different approaches, you’ll find more fluency in your musical journey. You have to play the instrument, A LOT, and develop a voice… If you’re a beginner musician developing a voice will come over time. A lot of musicians would call this your “tone” but essentially it’s your signature sound. What makes you, sound like you!
Imagine you’re a child trying to sound things out… certain syllables aren’t comfortable and certain words have a different connotation depending on the sentence.
In music, that’s like certain chords, riffs, or licks, not making sense for a certain key or even genre.
If you’re a seasoned musician treat yourself like a voice actor and learn new accents/dialogues. Learn other genres and playing styles. Get better at Finger-Style, Classical, Blues, or whatever you don’t usually play.
You have to train your brain and ears to understand and recognize what you’re hearing. It’s not superpowers, it’s a language. When you’re verbally talking to someone, you hear what they say, process it, internalize it, interpret it, respond to it, whatever have you.
When you hear a chord, do you automatically recognize if it’s major, minor or something else? If you hear a chord progression can you tell what’s going on and where they might be going?
