Personal Musings for 7/27
It’s been a busy week. We were down to 4 physicians (we add one next week and will be back up to 5), and 2 of them have been off since Tuesday, so things have bee hectic at work.
Still, I have gotten things finished and have left work with enough time to read Harry Potter.
My oldest read the book over the weekend after we bought it on Friday. We had a very good time at the party at Borders. J made it to the finals for his costume as Draco Malfoy, and Little C went as Ginny and looked really good. We enjoyed the festivities, but ended up running to Kroger to actually buy it (saving $4). It’s a good memory.
While J read the new book, I read books 5 and 6, as I had forgotten a lot of the details. He said that the Deathly Hallows was the best one yet. I hope so. I have resisted looking at any sites which give things away. They really are fantastic books. Mrs. Dr. Rob and I both enjoy reading them. She is a very gifted author.
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I put the current Poll up hoping to see what my readers felt were my better posts. It is hard to tell what comes off well and what does not. Looking at the number of comments on my most recent one (about Donuts and Dark Matter), perhaps that one didn’t come off as good as I thought. Unfortunately, everyone is voting for the Beer, so I have not learned anything too useful.
I was going through a little bit of writer’s block for a bit. You just have to let ideas “ferment” in the back of your mind. I have a couple more “Ask Dr. Rob” posts started, but if you do that kind of thing, it’d better come off good.
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Much thanks to the kind words from Kevin, MD, and Sid at Surgeonsblog. I try not to dwell to much on that stuff, but it helps to have some feedback.
July will be the biggest month so far, with over 6,100 visits so far. I somehow have been listed on TotalFark.com a couple of times. I am not sure what they say over there, since it requires a membership, but it did greatly enhance my traffic when I was listed.
I hope everyone is having a great summer.
Rob
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Addendum:
We got the Piano last weekend. It is a Steinway Grand which is at least 80 years old. It sounds absolutely incredible. I took lessons as a kid, but don’t play well anymore. I may just take some again.
July 27th, 2007 at 5:16 pm
The donut post may not have generated any traffic, but I appreciated it a whole lot & found it absolutely great & funny. Again thank you.
You talk about getting a piano… I’ve always wanted to learn, tho’ my forte was woodwinds ( flute, bassoon, recorder). Would it be easy to learn to play the piano on your own, vice taking lessons - say I got an electronic keyboard ?
July 28th, 2007 at 11:00 am
I would say that any instrument is possible to learn without lessons - especially if you are just getting started. I have a lot of bad habits to un-learn, so I would probably get a teacher. In general, the further you get, the more you profit from a teacher.
July 28th, 2007 at 6:23 pm
If you want to do lesson on your own, try this website–http://www.learnpianoonline.com/freelessons/printfreelessons.html. I am “learning” how to play piano through online/book lessons and am surprising myself. Maybe when I improve some, I’ll actually feel it worth having a teacher. I never took lessons when I was younger (turn 50 tomorrow). Go for it!
July 28th, 2007 at 11:00 pm
i always wanted to learn the piano but don’t have a nack for music as much as i love it
the harry potter book is good.. im sad though that the series is done;P
July 29th, 2007 at 4:21 pm
Thanks for the encouragement & info Dr Rob & ribates. Now to get a keyboard… “Fidel sweetie - my b’day is coming up soon” *grin*
August 4th, 2007 at 5:32 pm
I envy you your piano. I’m in the numb stage of piano withdrawal, and I’ve always wanted a grand! Enjoy it!
And for those of you contemplating learning an instrument, the problem with learning as an adult is not that the concepts are difficult, but that it takes a while for your brain and nervous system to adapt and coordinate. I’ve had many adult students quit after 2 or 3 months because they got frustrated because they understood everything, but they weren’t progressing as fast as they would like.
A couple of thoughts:
-Record yourself at the beginning. Play it back to yourself when you get discouraged at your progress (and you will). You’ll be surprised at how far you’ve come.
-Expect a disconnect between your understanding of the concepts and your physical ability.
-Give yourself permission to make mistakes and sound awful. Many adult students are perfectionists, which almost completely precludes enjoying the artistic experience.
-Seek out opportunities to make music with others. Find a few adult string players and form a quartet. Teach yourself to play the trombone and join a local community band. One of the most difficult things about learning to play the piano as an adult is that it is essentially a lonely activity (which is one major reason I switched to voice in undergrad, but I digress). If you live a busy life, it’s harder to commit to a regular practice if you find it isolating.
-Recognize that piano is a very challenging instrument. It is far easier to learn to play on of the woodwinds or brass. (I think strings are even harder than piano) If you really want some fun, and enjoy making music with other people, get a clarinet or trumpet and join a band. It’s easier to maintain one’s motivation when you have a weekly rehearsal to practice for. A regular lesson can give you the same sort of motivation.
-Arrange your life so that you practice regularly. Building the connections in your brain takes repetitive motion, repeated many times. There is no substitute for practicing.
-Enjoy. Always remember that you’re doing this for fun. Some adult students have significant artistic blocks from when they were children and forced to take lessons. Some won’t make musical progress unless they deal with parent issues.
Have fun! Sorry, I’ve been long-winded.
August 4th, 2007 at 6:29 pm
Thanks for joining the fray, Beach Bum. I agree on all of your points. I honestly think adults are able to learn more than they think, but simply don’t have the time or structure to their schedule enough to practice. That is certainly one of the big things for me.
I actually downloaded some sheet music from Scott Joplin and Beethoven today. I actually took 8 years of piano lessons (I mistakenly wrote “lesions” in that sentence), 10 years of Cello, and taught myself guitar. The problem with piano for me was that I did everything by ear and could never get good at sight-reading. It was my laziness and bad teachers that doomed me. So I think if I devote enough time to it, I can get pretty good again and perhaps even learn to sight-read. For piano, that opens up a huge store for me to build my repertoire.
August 5th, 2007 at 8:26 pm
I have several relatives who are doctors, and one of them learned to play the flute as an adult (she’d taken piano as a child, but doesn’t play any more). She would take her flute to the hospital with her, and play in the doctor’s lounge when it wasn’t busy in the ER. She actually is very good.
Practice is key. And quantity is not nearly as important as quality. Some of the great teachers recommend that students practice 3 or 4, 10-15 minute blocks per day. If you give yourself the gift of even 10 minutes a day, you’ll surprise yourself at how fast things come back and you learn new stuff.
Sit down at the piano every day.
Don’t think in terms of “enough time,” think in terms of every day (even if it’s 5 minutes).
I’ll stop now.