Learning Music Quickly On Mallet Keyboard Instruments Part 2: Specific Musical Suggestions

In the first part of "Learning Music Quickly On Mallet Keyboard Instruments" I focused on general practicing suggestions.  In this second part, I will be focusing on specific musical suggestions to better facilitate this important process.

PART 2: Specific Musical Suggestions

5. Visualize! Bridge the gap between the mental and physical

Visualization bridges the gap between the mental and physical.  It allows you to absorb things in a much firmer way.  Beyond learning music, it allows you more control when the moment comes and the pressure is on.

Muscle memory alone is extremely unstable.  Part of learning music should be visualization. Putting a piece of music together is an equally mental and physical process.  Focusing on the physical alone will not allow you to take everything in.   I often check on this with my students by asking them the following hypothetical question.  "If I gave you a blank piece of manuscript paper and pencil and I told you to walk away from the instrument, would you be able to reproduce the piece you are playing?"  In other words I am asking the student if they are capable of writing down the music that they are playing based only on the information they have in their head.  I am asking them if they have the music firmly enough in their head to reproduce it on paper.  If the answer if no, they are most likely relying too much on muscle memory.  Muscle memory is 100% physical and in many cases it has nothing to do with music.

To work on visualization spend a decent amount of time away from your instrument looking at the music and hearing it go by in your head.  Picture the way it feels to play what you hear.  Go to a quiet place, close your eyes, and imagine the bars of the keyboard.  Then imagine the piece you are playing and as the notes are played picture them lighting up as the notes are struck.  Unlike muscle memory, this is a 100% mental process and it is much more valuable than the physical.

6. Music is about listening and your ear is everything

This concerns retention, listening, and how we process music.  As I pointed out above, if the way in which we process music is through only physical means then we have no other tools to help us retain it.  Since music is primarily about listening and aural skills, our ear must be fundamental in our absorption of music.

If you are not listening to the relationship between the notes you are playing then you will have a much harder time retaining what you are playing.  I am often surprised again and again at how many young mallet keyboard students have such limited listening skills and ear training backgrounds.  A basic ability to hear chords, scales, intervals, and how music is constructed will go a long way towards helping you retain what you are learning.

Let me put it another way.  Think of your native language.  When someone is speaking to you and you later recall the conversation, you may not remember every exact word they said but you sure can remember a lot about it.  You can remember the points the person was making, the way they said it, and even sometimes the order in which things were said. You remember the conversation even if you don't remember every detail. This is because you are fluent in the language.  Music works the same way.  If you possess a stronger ear and listening ability you will inevitably absorb more of the music you are learning.  It is an extremely powerful tool and quite possibly the most important.

7. A knowledge of music theory helps

The more you know about and can recognize scales chords etc, the better you will be at learning music. Music is constructed of these things and your fast recognition of them will only aid in your ability to absorb and learn music quickly.  Pay attention in music theory class and learn as much about the construction of music (all styles) as possible.  The more language you know the faster you will able to recognize and speak.

8. Knowledge of sight-reading is a true foundation and a must

This may be a cliche thing to say but it's true.  Your ability to sight-read must be developed and worked on everyday.  You should be able to read without looking down at the keyboard.  Don't go too fast.  Practice reading at a tempo that is accurate and comfortable. I mean it.  DON'T GO TO FAST!  Embrace reading as a major aspect of learning your instrument and you will not be sorry.

9. Last but not least, don’t be afraid to challenge yourself and go for it!

I spent years challenging myself to learn music quickly.  Many times it was not easy.  I often had to put myself in uncomfortable situations where it felt like I was taking on too much. This is OK.  I can now say that by challenging myself to do the impossible, I ultimately made the impossible possible and then some.  Don't be afraid to take on a lot and have a long view of learning your instrument.  It may take some time but the results will pay it forward in a BIG way.

If you enjoyed reading this posting, I also wrote a similar article on this topic in a fantastic publication called “A Percussionist’s Handbook” by Peter Saleh.  Check it out!