What Should I Learn Next?

I have a lot of music in my home. There’s music books for my guitar, my bass guitar, my ukulele, the mountain dulcimer, my hammered dulcimer, and the keyboard – the instrument that sparked my love of music. My music is stored in file drawers, bookshelves, notebooks, even on the floor. I have tabs, sheet music, songbooks, and handwritten scores of my personal arrangements.

When I determine it’s time to start learning something new, something unfamiliar, I don’t need to go online searching for an idea (although I often do). I have plenty to choose from right there in my own home. So which way should I go? Should I select a new piece that looks pretty easy to learn, a quick study? Should I choose something really challenging that will take quite a bit of work. Or should I pick something somewhere in the middle? Well, here are things I want to caution you about.

If You Choose the Tune That “Looks Pretty Easy”  …

The problem here is that you may think it’s so easy that you skip the initial steps required to learn a tune … breaking it down into small pieces. You might fly right through the tune, not stopping to work on little glitches along the way, telling yourself, “I’ve got this one!” Then you move on before it’s really mastered.

If You Choose a Tune That’s a “Hard Nut to Crack” …

If you think a tune is “hard,” your mind may put up roadblocks to achieving your goal. Your might start thinking this one is “too hard” instead of simply labeling it “challenging,” and you give up on it shortly after you begin. And it really may be too hard for you at that time. Thankfully, there’s no rule that says you have to keep working on a tune if it’s beyond your current skill level.

Let me share with you the 80/20 rule. For most of us, learning a new tune breaks down into 20% ability and 80% effort, i.e. hard work. And our biggest gains in technique and proficiency in playing our dulcimers will come from selecting new music and putting in that 80% effort until we can play it smoothly and without mistakes.

The journey of learning to play our dulcimers is very rewarding. It doesn’t really matter if you pick something too easy, rather challenging, or somewhere in the middle. What does matter is that you commit to the tune you select, and give it your best effort. If you switch from tune to tune, never mastering any, you’re always going to play in the shallow waters. Select a song that challenges you, and acknowledge that you’re probably not going to master the tune in one practice session. Keep on working on it until it becomes familiar under your fingertips and you know that you know that you’ve “got it.”

Then play the tune for a close friend and go out and celebrate!

Happy dulcimering,
Linda