Taking Tips from Popular Music

"For nearly a century, formal music education has turned its back upon the learning practices of the musicians who produce most of the music that comes out of loudspeakers. But perhaps by constructively embracing those same technological developments which many people consider to have alienated music-making, and noticing how they are used as one of the main means of self-education for popular musicians, we can find one key to the re-invigoration of music-making in general."

- Lucy Green, How Popular Musicians Learn, p. 186

In Green's How Popular Musicians Learn, she expresses her concern with the lack music-making in our current society. She argues that in previous centuries music-making was much more common, but for various reasons, comparatively far less people are music-makers at the present time. Green interviewed 14 popular musicians to learn about their learning process. One of the things she took away from these interviews was the importance of learning from recorded music. She found that most of the musicians started out by 'copying' familiar songs which exposed them to various styles. Eventually the musicians would draw on this knowledge to sculpt their own compositions or playing style. Green believes that if music education in schools involved more popular music and creative exercises such as composing and improvising, practices common in popular music, then more people would 'stick' with music after they finish school. She also believes that the skills derived from learning popular music can enhance the abilities of classical musicians.
Green's arguments are convincing, and caused me to reflect on my own musical development. Reading her book was like reading a history of how I learned to play the guitar and drumset. I think that there is a lot to be said for learning from recordings and one of the most valuable skills derived from this practice is critical listening. With recording technology being so accessible, we have the ability to record and analyze our own compositions with relative ease. I think we can use this to our advantage and improve our musicianship by incorporating recording as part of our reflective learning process.