Title The Music Lesson

Author Victor Wooten

Year Published 2008

Kind of Book Music/Spirituality

How strongly I recommend it 9/10 

My Impressions This book has a special place in my heart. It is maybe the first "self-help" book I read. Wooten tells a fictional story about meeting a guru who leads him on the path towards not only musical growth, but also spiritual growth. This is an excellent gift for a young musician.

Date Read circa 2011 and 2019

Practical Takeaways

  • Have an opinion without being opinionated

  • Answer questions with a question

  • Share what you know with others

  • Learn to use your mind

  • Always say what you mean ie. be precise in your speech

  • Never lose the groove in order to find a note

  • Tell your story through your instrument not with it

  • Use the same process for learning music that you used to learn English

  • Find the groove before you start playing (ie. hear what you're going to play during the count-off so it doesn’t take a few bars to settle in)

  • Once you thoroughly learn the rules you can thoroughly break them

  • Use concentration to learn what the technique is. Then use distraction to get completely comfortable using it (eg. practiced undistracted, then practice while watching TV)

  • Practice while watching TV

  • Make it solid before you make it flashy

  • Make sure that even your flashiest techniques are musical

  • Before you start practicing, convince yourself that you can already do it

  • Close your eyes when playing or listening

  • Warm-up your mind before the gig (ie. Meditate before the gig)

  • Don't try it. Do it and make it work

  • Smile to feel better

  • Smile while playing

  • Be thankful for your headache (it is a warning sign that you need water)

  • Imagine an explosion going off on the first beat of each measure

  • (On gigs) divide your attention between yourself and the rest of the band

  • (On gigs) Listen to the other musicians more than you listen to yourself

  • Live consciously

  • Take control of your life

  • Decide for yourself

  • (when making decisions) If you have no experience to draw from, trust your feelings

  • Allow information the information you attain a chance to simmer.

  • Don't attempt to gather too much knowledge at once.

  • Don't try hard. Try easy

  • (meditation) Treat focusing on the breath like a game, but know that it is not one

  • Enjoy playing music

  • Never sacrifice the groove to play a lick

  • Don't lose the groove when you start soloing

  • Occasionally leave space at the end of phrases rather than filling them up with licks

  • Give rests the same attention that you give the notes

  • If you're performing for a noisy audience, and you want them to stop talking and start listening to you, stop playing

  • Don't ask who the artist is when a song comes on. Just listen to the music and judge for yourself (knowing who the artist is will affect how you listen to it)

  • Let books and teachers assist you, but never let them take the place of what you feel and what you know within yourself.

  • Thank your instrument

  • Allow music to play you

Big Ideas

  • Physical symptoms you experience (eg. Headaches) are warning signs that something is off in your body

  • Knowing who the artist is will affect how you listen to it

  • If you ask yourself a question enough times the answer will appear

  • Life and Music are the same thing

  • Flashy techniques can cause the audience to start watching and stop listening.

  • Love is the strongest of all emotions

  • Love is the root of all emotions

  • At the end of your life you will not spend a moment wondering if you practiced your enough

  • When a good preacher is preaching people get so caught up in the emotion that they stop listening to what he is saying

  • Your temper (mood) effects your tempo

  • Smiling slows your tempo

 

Memorable Quotes

"Music, Life, Life, Music: What's the difference?"

 

"Life is a lot like Music. You've gotta put some rest in there."