You Can Do It! Learn a Piece of Music All On Your Own
by Sean Stone-Ashe
The primary way that music students encounter and learn new music is through assignments given to them by their teacher. Trusting your teacher to set you up for success with their choices of music to learn is without a doubt a strong strategy for musical success. However, there is great joy and pride that comes from choosing music for yourself and being able to learn and eventually perform that music.
When I was a young musician, I had a long list of aspirational pieces that I wanted to learn. I would frequently attempt to learn pieces from my list, and it didn’t always go well. But, my musical journey was better for having attempted to learn music I felt passionately about.
In this blog, I will discuss a few strategies to help you learn a piece of music on your own in a way that is successful. In order to learn any piece of music, there is a certain amount of reading fluency and technical ability that already needs to be mastered. So, much of what is discussed here is appropriate for students who have already been learning music for some amount of time.
1. Brainstorm
The first step towards learning a piece by yourself is to identify what piece of music you intend to learn. Hopefully, if you are a music student you are actively listening to music in some capacity. It doesn’t really matter what genre of music you like to listen to, or even if the music you listen to perfectly matches the musical styles you are learning.
The best way to select a piece of music is to begin by brainstorming several candidate pieces before narrowing down to a single selection. Start by jotting down the names of several pieces of music that you enjoy, and try to identify five to ten pieces of music you would enjoy learning.
Once you have your list of pieces, try to find videos of people playing the piece on your instrument. Hopefully, you’ll be able to find a version for each piece that matches the musical instrument and style that you are learning.
At this point, you have to ask yourself which of these pieces seem possible for you to learn. If some of them seem quite advanced compared to your other music (and be honest with yourself), then you should eliminate those pieces from contention.
2. Find Sheet Music or Other Resources
Now that you have narrowed down your list of choices, you should be resourceful and track down the sheet music or other tutorial resources to help you learn the music. If you can’t find any good resources to learn some of the pieces, you should eliminate those pieces as well.
Often, if you watch a YouTube video performance of a particular piece of music, the person who uploaded the video may have placed the sheet music or other resources in the description of the video. These resources can often be purchased for a small fee, and possibly viewed for free so that you can double check that you’ll be able to learn it.
At this point, you can try sight-reading whatever pieces are remaining from your narrowed-down list. Once you have attempted to play a bit of each piece, you can make a decision about which piece to actually learn.
3. Start Practicing
When you actually begin to work on your piece of music, you should remember all of the helpful practice strategies your teacher has given you. Just because you are learning a fun piece you chose yourself doesn’t mean you should neglect everything you have learned about how to learn and practice new music. After all, there’s a reason your teacher has made you do all these strategies – so that you can learn music effectively!
If you reach a trouble spot in your learning, you can always ask for help if you have access to a private teacher. If you show your teacher all the work you’ve already put in, they will be super impressed!!
Being able to learn music independently is one of the most important skills to enjoying music for a lifetime. Believe it or not, you won’t always be a music student with access to a private teacher. But, if you have a teacher now, their goal is to eventually help you outgrow the need for their help.
If you have already been learning music for some time and have always relied on your teacher to supply you with music, you should attempt to learn a piece on your own. When you are able to play a piece of music you have always enjoyed, you will certainly feel the pride of ownership over your own musical learning.
As an experienced musician, I truly enjoy being able to simply choose a piece I want to learn, track down the music, and get it up and running! Even if you aren’t a professional just yet, you can still experience that joy by following the steps listed above and learn a piece of music all on your own!
