Learning Music has it’s ups and downs but the up’s always out sway the downs. Today I want to talk about how learning the Guitar has made me more sociable. Most people enjoy social interaction. It’s actually hard wired into our human nature to feel the need the need to interact with each other. So how has learning the guitar helped me be more sociable? Surely Learning guitar is all about being locked in the house for hours not speaking to anyone?
Learning any instrument but in my case the Guitar has propelled me into quite a few different social environments. We are already familiar with hanging out with friends at home, in bars or café’s or going to the cinema so what is so different about where the Guitar can take us? Well the sociable interaction that the Guitar can bring is slightly different whereby it is an environment fuelled by creativity, thus being a very gratifying and rewarding place to be.
Think of playing an instrument in a band on whatever scale. A ‘covers’ band will get together and discuss what songs they are going to perform. They then get together throughout the week for lengthy rehearsals to fine tune their skills and work together to get the songs sounding great. A band that writes its own original music will actually work together and brainstorm different creative elements to create their next musical masterpiece. These two environments are common amongst musicians and like the setting of a bar or a cinema, we are still interacting with each other but during this time but with the added influence of creativity and music as the topics of conversations.
In the context of learning I find that that the classroom environment is far more beneficial than the a one to one tutor type setting. Some would argue that this is not the case however we as pupils learnt better in a class environment, just think back to when you at school. As a class you take the journey of learning together and in the process you will have interacted with each other, brainstormed ideas to come to certain outcomes, shared jokes and even encouraged each other. These sorts of authentic interactions cannot be achieved in an isolated learning environment. During my time of higher education, I studied guitar in classes and with people around me committed to the same goal as me, learning what I was learning and cheering me on I was able to go much further than if I just locked myself away.
Here at Inspire Music School, some of our students just play in front of family. On the other hand, some have gone on to form bands and perform. One thing that all share is the enjoyment of seeing each other for their lesson times when guitar and music is the topic of focus. As a teacher, I like to see the moods of students lift during class times. I would go as far to say that this sort of interaction even holds more depth than that of surface conversations that occur day to day and with it, the friendships that can be formed will go on for far longer.
For more information about guitar lessons in the St Albans area, contact us today!