Do you know the scene in Despicable Me 2 when the hero, Gru, follows his nemesis, El Macho to his secret lair?
El Macho decodes the door by dancing across plates that play out “La Cucaracha,” a la the classic game Simon. When Gru follows, not knowing the code, he makes many mistakes with disastrous consequences.
When I think about expanding music literacy, or skills in any realm, I think about learning the way through a pitfall-laden path. With the skills, you can move efficiently from beginning to end, avoiding the obviously wrong steps. Without those skills, I have to try every wrong step to get to the end…and even if I don’t get shot by arrows, scorched, or narrowly avoid a scythe, I do have to pay for every step with time and frustration.
I remember my early work as an arranger and a composer – painstakingly going note by note, trying every combination I could think of. I still do a lot of experimentation in my writing, but I also know what I can definitely avoid…I know where the pitfalls are, to a much greater extent, than I did in my early years of work. And when the way path seems clear, I can go at it with great efficiency.
The more I know, the more quickly I can follow a path accurately and avoid missteps.