The Learning Process

by Dick DiCenso

I decided to write this article with the intention of providing myself, students, parents, teachers and others who may be interested, with a better understanding of the learning process. My experience with the learning process comes from teaching people how to play the drums and participate in the joy of creating music. I started teaching in 1955 and 54 years later, I am still teaching and still fascinated with the learning process as well as what makes it work. The following is based on what I have observed over the years teaching the art of drumming to people of all ages and walks of life.

Once you have determined what musical instrument you want to play, you need to find a competent and compatible teacher. Together, goals combined with a course of study can be established, enabling you to make progress and realize your goals.

Making progress and realizing goals involves a process that will require you to make a commitment to practice. Practice involves a continuous, progressive effort if success and enjoyment are to be achieved. It is interesting to note that the measure of success and enjoyment is directly related to the measure of practice, and both are related to the measure of motivation. Motivation and practice go together like milk and cookies. When milk and cookies come together, just as when motivation and practice come together, you have something wonderful.

I believe it is the teacher's responsibility to make every effort to motivate and help students develop a practice routine. However, it is clearly the student's (and where applicable, the parents') responsibility to follow through and see to it that the desire to learn along with the effort to practice are equal parts of the equation. Otherwise, what could be a wonderful, positive experience becomes a frustrating, negative one.

In order to have motivation and practice come together, time management/personal behavior must be discussed and managed. Time is one of our most precious and yet elusive commodities. How to manage time/behavior is one of the most valuable lessons you can learn as a result of learning to play a musical instrument.

When students display a lack of effort/practice, I ask them to make seven columns on a piece of paper, one for each day of the week. At the left of each column, they put the time they normally get out of bed. At the bottom, they put the time they normally go to bed. In between, they list the times and all of the things they do, including practice time.

This effort can help determine if you: are over-extended; need to adjust priorities; are spending too much time at the computer; are watching too much television; spend too much time on the cell phone; etc. This effort, if done honestly, will show how well you manage your mental, physical and emotional behavior. Your personal behavior directly effects how well you manage your time and, ultimately, how well you manage what you must as well as what you want to do.

The goal is that through better management of your time/behavior, you will find more balance, be more productive and feel better about yourself.

Motivation and practice feed off each other. If practice becomes a part of your daily routine, progress will be realized. Furthermore, progress has a way of sustaining both motivation and practice. However, there is no instant gratification. Progress does come with meaningful practice, patience, time and discipline. Consequently, when you can accomplish something with your instrument on Thursday that you could not on Monday, you will see progress. As a result, you are encouraged to continue. If progress sustains motivation and motivation fuels practice and practice fuels success, what is the component that fuels the entire learning process?

The component that determines the degree of practice and success regarding the learning process is the degree of desire. If the learning process were a train, the engine would be desire. Just as the engine moves the train...it is the desire that moves the learning process. However, just as the train is made up of many parts, so too is the entire learning process. While the engine moves the train, the engine alone has nothing to move. While desire moves the learning process, desire alone has no process to move...it cannot by itself bring about a successful learning process. A successful learning process involves something that gets your attention and develops it into a genuine interest that ultimately turns into a degree of desire. Another component includes competent, compatible teachers who help you to establish a meaningful course of study, set goals and realize them, motivating you to continue. Add to those, managing your time, behavior and commitment to meaningful practice, you now have the components that are necessary for a successful learning process.

Then it's all said and done, successfully applying the learning process as you learn to play your musical instrument, yields many benefits. For example, you've accomplished what you set out to do and you've achieved a level of musicianship that is commensurate with the effort you expended. That effort enables you to participate in the joy of creating music. Moreover, you have gained a sense of: self-esteem; recognition; confidence; discipline; creativity; working with others; great fun and much more. My personal experience and that of many of my students will confirm that the pay off is much greater than the effort. When you consider that learning to play a musical instrument and participating in the joy of creating music can truly enhance your life...and it can be a life-long companion...well, that's a pay off that is hard to beat.

Good luck in finding something for which you have a burning desire. When you find it, follow that engine called desire, nurture it and enjoy the journey. The pay off is a wonderful life-long reward. Believe me, I know.

Dick Dicenso currently teaches at DiCenso's Drum Shop in Weymouth, MA. ?Find out more about Dick and the shop at www.dicensos.com.