Yeah, I hear ya. I’m a programmer. Pretty good at math. My fingers are all in good shape. I should be able to pick this up. One of my very, very best friends really knows music theory. She has a trained voice. Ask for a G or any note and there it is.
I can hear the bad note. But I guess I need a LOT more muscle memory. And practice, practice, practice to get that done.
That’s what I should probably get away from. Playing by wrote memory. She and I have jammed on piano and guitar or banjo, but I can’t remember, or completely play an entire song to save my life.
My problem is I’ll step away for a month because life gets in the way. And I have to continue to start from scratch.
Huh. I picked music and pretty much thought the exact thing. Hell, If I could go the rest of my life without having to talk to more people, the better!
If I may hijack the thread a bit, the OP only mentioned “mastering music” in the sense of being able to play any instrument well, but said nothing about composing.
Being a master of music composition would be a total gamechanger in a way that being a mere instrumentalist would not. You could be the next John Williams, have your creations be downloaded/purchased/listened to hundreds of millions of times, get Academy Award’d, etc.
Top-notch musicians tend to be a dime a dozen (quick, name ten of the top classical pianists today!) but being a composer/creator of music is a whole other ball game.
In that case I’d pick music for a change of pace. My phone will do perfect translations in and out of any language before long. That will be good enough for me. My phone playing any instrument with existing music should be there already. But playing the music myself is different. I’ve just never been able to play a musical instrument well and that intrigues me.
I’m with you. Maybe it’s because I simply have never been able to get myself to learn an instrument. Being ‘masterful’ at playing music is something that genuinely brings joy to people, and I don’t get to do that. I remember the fun I had going to the local dive bar when I was in college, with the guy and his guitar up on stage playing requests from the audience. If I was a master instrumentalist, I could be that guy. I don’t need to be the next big star, I’d be happy just playing a song on the piano before dinner.
Languages, I just don’t get a thrill out of. I suppose Squid Game would be better in the original Korean. Maybe Paris is more fun if you speak like a native, but millions of people love to visit the place without having that skill. Knowing what the Spanish speakers around town are saying isn’t likely to be any more thrilling than what the English speakers are saying.
