To learn German, I really ‘got it’ by actually spending two summers in Germany.
I had listened to my set of 15 German language CDs many times and took a year of classes and all that got put to the test once I arrived. My command of the language grew rapidly since I had to talk to people, travel around, and get ahold of a saxophone!
One of the instructors who came from Poland, Voytek, ended up helping me a lot with the saxophone part, but I still had to take a train to the next town over and go to the music shop to rent it.
It’s often repeated that music is a language.
So you have tot immerse yourself in it too!
If you listen to tons of music and constantly test out ‘saying’ things on your saxophone, your playing will grown much much faster.
In the movie ‘It Might Get Loud’, Jack White from the White Stripes talks about how he pushed his bed out of his room and slept on a foam pad so he could fit two drumsets in his small room when he grew up.
I liked that bit.
Makes me want to immerse myself in music more!
Hey Neal,
You can speak German too? That’s really impressive 🙂 must’ve been nice to spend so much time in Germany! By the way, I like the idea of saying things out on an instrument – not so different from how children at improve language, just by trying out the sounds over and over.
E
P.S. At least a saxophone’s smaller than a drumkit, so you can keep your bed! 😛
Hey Eldon,
haha, yep. Right now I’m working on Sinhala, haven’t gotten too far yet though.
The acoustics in my room aren’t great, so that’s not really where I practice right now….. but yes, definitely easier to store than drums!
-Neal