You know that Baz Luhrmann song? The one that starts: “If I could offer you one tip for the future… sunscreen would be it.”
Well, sunscreen is great. But if I could offer you one credo or motto to live by, “Trial and Improvement” would be it.
I remember first hearing this phrase back in school during a maths lesson. We were doing some problem-solving that involved gradually finding the right answer through trial and error. The teacher told us to use the phrase “trial and improvement” instead, because it more accurately captured how we were gradually moving towards the right answer.
That has always stuck in my head, because we’re so indoctrinated to think “errors” are bad and something to feel ashamed of—whereas “improvement” is something to be proud of and aspire to. Just changing that wording somehow really altered the emotional experience of doing those exercises, and our success with them.
A lot of the musicality skills we’ll be exploring in this book can seem like “all or nothing” skills. Something you can either do, or you can’t. In fact, each of the skills of musicality exists on a spectrum—just like any musical skill.
For many musicality skills, musicians tend to think they belong right at the “zero” end of the spectrum. And so it’s vitally important to understand that the way to learn these skills is not to instantly, magically jump to the other end of the spectrum. It’s to travel along that spectrum from one end to the other, step-by-step. Just like with any skill we learn.
In this book you’ll discover the frameworks, techniques, and building blocks which let you move along the spectrum of each skill much more quickly. But you cannot jump to the other end of the spectrum where you have mastery of the skill in one leap. The only way to get there is being willing to travel along the spectrum, step-by-step.
That means tolerating making “mistakes” along the way. And none of it works if you get stuck in nervousness, embarrassment or self-doubt. Because mistakes are part of the process, and mastering skills is a process of trying, testing, experimenting. Just like in those maths exercises when I was a kid, it’s “trial and improvement” that will get you to the right answer.
As you travel along the spectrum, you are always going to be pushing your comfort zone, and trying increasingly challenging things. That means you’re always going to need to tolerate mistakes and your own current limitations, as part of the learning process.
Remember: Tak Courag.
Each time you practice, you are taking a concrete step forwards. All you need to do is show up, and keep courageously taking steps forwards, and not letting limiting beliefs around mistakes or errors hold you back.
Here’s a critical thing to keep in mind: it works this way for everyone.
This isn’t a cop-out method you use if you’re not “gifted”. Again, every skill we think might be a “talent” or a “gift” is actually learnable, and has been learned by those who can do it.
Even if you encounter a musician who has a great ability to play by ear, for example, I guarantee they didn’t get every note right the first time they tried it! What distinguishes them from all the musicians who can’t play by ear is only their trial-and-improvement process, and whether they had the courage to persist or not.
It’s a really exciting and empowering feeling as a musician when you take another clear step along the spectrum, knowing that you’ve earned your progress.
If you can adopt this “trial and improvement” mindset as you apply everything you learn in this book to accelerate your journey, then I guarantee you’ll be delighted by the exciting progress you make along the spectrum of whichever skills of musicality contribute to your own Big Picture Vision.