(no subject)
Thought of the day: thinking back to this time last year... I miss having the drive and focus I had with all the senior recital prep. I miss being in that state of "flow", where the task at hand consumes you, and you have no choice but to be swept up in a wave of creative fury.
These days, I feel the grind of classes and problem sets wearing down on me. I like my classes - don't get me wrong - but after five years, I'm getting tired of it. My productivity has fallen off a cliff since midterms. It's hard to feel that motivated anymore. I still practice on a piano once a week, usually Thursday nights, and I'm still learning some new stuff, but that's really no comparison with my 4-hours-a-day practice sessions last year. The fact that I won't have easy access to a piano after graduation doesn't help the motivation part.
Which is why I started playing around with a guitar last summer. Since then, I think I've built up a respectable collection of songs I can play, and I'm fairly optimistic in how much more I can learn by myself. Maybe I'll invest in lessons when I hit a wall, but I think I've definitely crossed that first, beginner's hump when it comes to musical instruments.
It's interesting to think of one's skill progression as a series of humps. The first one takes a number of weeks and starts out with you being really excited about learning how to play something, and ends with most people saying: "screw it, this is too hard." The last two humps may be: you're at the point where, as far as the average person is concerned, you're indistinguishable from the pros; and finally, being able to conquer pretty much anything in the standard repertoire. It's kind of like leveling up in an RPG, except it takes a lot longer and is infinitely more rewarding.
These days, I feel the grind of classes and problem sets wearing down on me. I like my classes - don't get me wrong - but after five years, I'm getting tired of it. My productivity has fallen off a cliff since midterms. It's hard to feel that motivated anymore. I still practice on a piano once a week, usually Thursday nights, and I'm still learning some new stuff, but that's really no comparison with my 4-hours-a-day practice sessions last year. The fact that I won't have easy access to a piano after graduation doesn't help the motivation part.
Which is why I started playing around with a guitar last summer. Since then, I think I've built up a respectable collection of songs I can play, and I'm fairly optimistic in how much more I can learn by myself. Maybe I'll invest in lessons when I hit a wall, but I think I've definitely crossed that first, beginner's hump when it comes to musical instruments.
It's interesting to think of one's skill progression as a series of humps. The first one takes a number of weeks and starts out with you being really excited about learning how to play something, and ends with most people saying: "screw it, this is too hard." The last two humps may be: you're at the point where, as far as the average person is concerned, you're indistinguishable from the pros; and finally, being able to conquer pretty much anything in the standard repertoire. It's kind of like leveling up in an RPG, except it takes a lot longer and is infinitely more rewarding.