Thursday, June 12, 2008

Paradiddles and Freedom - the art of learning

When I used to teach drumming, I would find that while my students were really eager to learn to fly around the drum kit, they were a whole lot less enthusiastic about practicing paradiddles (RLRRLRLL - and so on). And yet it is by practicing these basic rudiments in different combinations that really frees you at a later stage to not have to think too much about what you're doing. Your body is in automatic and you can relax, and focus on making music instead of having to try and calculate where your hands are going to end up.

So - there are a number of practices that one can do, little things to put in place, that slowly teach you how to move from being consciously incompetent, to consciously competent to unconsciously competent - where you just move in automatic. And this is the place where, in a talk, I could come up with some really cheesy illustrations, like a house is built one brick at a time etc., but I'm sure you get the idea.

The thing I've found, though, is that you get to a point in life where you know this stuff. There are a number of things you've mastered and you're quite comfortable in how things are done. The same happens in drumming, you practice your rudiments, you do what you're supposed to and you get to a point where you can do what you need to do when you need to do it. But then slowly you discover than part of the fun of it was the challenge in learning. You're stuck in a rut. Life becomes habitual and so does your image of who you are.

The temptation at this point is to try and ignore that voice inside you that says you're not all you could be, that this isn't all there is. So you fill it with stuff, and entertainment, and noise...

Or you reinvent yourself - you try something new and you feel the thrill and humility of being a beginner again. And you're alive again! Hmm - but the problem with this is that if you keep at it you'll once again be at the place where you've mastered this new thing and so the cycle starts once again..

Perhaps there is the belief that there is this place called 'happiness', or 'stability', or 'success' and that if you work long enough at it, get and do the right things, you'll get there. But when you get there you realise that it's all empty.

So what's the point of doing it then?

One of the things that have been 'drummed' into us from an early age is that learning is about the destination. We study so that we pass our exams. We pass our exams so we can get a job. We do this and that, so that we can be a success.

But, the real key to it all is realising that the journey isn't about the destination, and drumming isn't about becoming a good drummer. The reason we learn, is because we can, and the reason we drum, is to connect with the rhythm that is already in us and has always been part of us. The reason we practice and try new things and push forward isn't just to get somewhere, but to discover who we already are. The journey and the destination are one and the same thing.

So perhaps the real art of learning is not so much about getting somewhere, or becoming something, but more like unwrapping a gift. Discovering what you've really had the potential to do, and to be all along...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I fully resonate with your thoughts and ideas. I suppose that I have always appreciated and venerated the status of the neophyte, for the very reason you mention - being alive.

Somehow we need to learn the art of unlearning or at least of putting ourselves in the position to learn again, so that we can gain both worlds - our exisiting expertise as well as the enthusiasm that comes by having something afresh.