TakeLessons' Advice to Students: Excel at Music by Acting Like a Child

Online, January 16, 2012 (Newswire.com) - What's an awards show like the Golden Globes without some sort of celebrity drama? This time, at Sunday night's Golden Globes, Elton John's partner David Furnish expressed some not-so-happy sentiments after Madonna beat John for Best Original Song.

Despite Furnish's comment, many music critics agree that Madonna is a true icon for the music world, proving that a successful career can be catapulted much further than just 15 minutes of fame. And she's still making strides at age 53, with her next album due out this March.

TakeLessons (http://takelessons.com), the nation's fastest growing music lessons provider, took the opportunity to share some tips for adults taking music lessons later in life, which may seem scary for some. By taking on some childlike traits, adults can master the instrument of their choice in no time.

The following is an excerpt from the TakeLessons blog:

"Rule #1: Forget about the master plan
Children don't have a grand plan in their heads, no roadmap with sub-goals and an ultimate goal - not consciously anyway. Adults have a tendency to plan things, map things out over time, consciously allocate time each day to practice, etc. Children don't do this. They are a lot more pragmatic and as-it-happens with learning new things.

Children live in the moment, and they don't worry about the future. They take things in one step at a time. This is a very important thing as it basically prevents you from becoming overwhelmed. If you ignore the bigger picture and ignore what you'll be doing a week, a month or a year from now, you can focus on what is important to you today.

Rule #2: Very focused, short learning bursts
In the absence of a master plan, it comes down to being able to spot a missing piece in your existing knowledge and then focus your entire concentration on getting it right. When a child is presented with something new, say a single word, they will focus their entire energy on it: first by listening to it, then either trying to pronounce it, or remembering the word and what it is associated with. Children will focus their whole attention on this one word, but only for several seconds, and then move on when they feel they have absorbed the new piece of information or it has simply become boring.

As a musician, you can adopt this approach into your own routine. When you learn something new, and you have trouble with a small part of it - maybe a bar or two in length, maximum - devote all your energy on improving this part. Try to get it exactly perfect, repeatedly. Do this until you feel satisfied that you have improved, and then move on."

By sharing the tips with blog readers, TakeLessons hopes to continue engaging current students and help with any musical goals they may have. Readers are invited to share their thoughts by commenting on the TakeLessons blog, where they can also read about 5 places to stream music online, and comments are also welcomed on Facebook (http://facebook.com/takelessons).