Music Education

One of the things I keep stressing in this blog is education.  Knowledge is power not power is power.  The first thing you teach a child is nutrition.  By 15, you should be well versed in nutrition and healthy eating. 

Another idea I keep reiterating is the 20 year or 10,000 hour rule.  It takes 20 years of one hour of practice per day, day in and day out, to master a skill.  I mastered Judo and Music.  Other people master other things.  I know yoga teachers, vegan chefs, guitar teachers, judo teachers, sparring coaches, practitioners of massage, etc...  If you start between the ages of 8 and 15 on your hobbies, by the time you are in your late twenties or early thirties, you will be a young master.  The late twenties and early thirties is the best part of a human being's life.

Don't waste your life.  And don't neglect your children.  They shouldn't just go to school and enjoy television and video games and the internet when they are not in school.  Get them involved in extra-curricular activities or they will be helpless later.  Practice your hobbies long enough, and they become your profession.  Most people will not do what I say, impregnate their high school girlfriend, and end up in a dead end job just to pay the bills to support their spouse and children.  Even a gorilla can find a mate, reproduce, and support it's offspring.  So a life of work and women is no better than that of an animal.

I am glad I am 41 and have no wife or children.  I did other things with my life.  I mastered judo, I mastered rhythm guitar, I mastered TCM theory, I write, I draw, and I am close to mastering cooking.  So I am an exceptional human being.

There are other forms of success besides money and children.  I consider myself a uniquely gifted human being. 

I have 5 albums on Spotify and YouTube right now.  I had a first album called Money and Women that came off the internet.  And I have another album coming soon.  This new one will be all electric and feature vocals.

Now that Judo is less age appropriate, I can switch my focus to music.  Music is not dependent on speed, power, timing, or reflexes.  It is a creative expression.  I can still practice Judo in a diminished capacity than when I was in my late twenties.  20 years is a huge period in a human being's lifespan.  It is a generation, and it takes 20 years to master a skill.

So I use judo to be a better musician and a better copywriter.  When I am sitting infront of the microphone with my guitar in my hand, I am totally confident in myself.  I wouldn't be able to do that without judo.  Judo makes you tough.  I also apply to copywriting jobs with no fear of failure because I know how talented I am and if the client doesn't hire me it is their loss not mine.

There are a lot of combat sports and martial arts to get involved in.  Boxing and Tae Kwon Do is pretty cool but has more to do with self defense and ego and less with moral education.  Grappling and MMA is for punks.  Judo can be used for physical education and has more uses than just its efficacy in self defense.  When you randori and compete, and get indifferent to winning and losing, it makes you mentally tough.  This is a good quality for life.  Not to be dissuaded by the outside world.

So I had some boxing potential but decided to switch to Judo because I had high minded ideals.  Whether that was a good decision or a bad decision doesn't matter.  I can't go back in time.  But I can deal with the situation now.

I think, moving forward, that I should take some music education courses at the local community college.  I would like to be around musicians and people who know music theory.  The history of rock n roll fascinates me.  Since the mid 1950s, rhythm and blues became rock n roll and since 1970, the past 50 years have been an explosion of creativity.  You can do so much with so few chords. 

So Copywriting can be a job, Judo can be an exercise, and Music can be a hobby.  I live a full life and not having a wife or child doesn't matter.  I have created things greater than children.

But I enjoy music the most, and wish to hang out with musicians and music teachers.  That is why this blog post is called Music Education.  The post is about music and it is about education. 

So word to the wise, educate yourself, and do what you love.