Article by: Lee Jones
How I first learnt to play – Method 1
I now use a different method when learning a new song, It’s a better and easier method of learning to play that I will discuss in more detail later on.
But for my very first song I used this method 1 as follows
I decided right from the get-go, that learning to read musical notation just enough to enable me to learn what notes and chords to play would be a means to an end and not an end in itself.
I would then learn and memorise it well enough to play by ear from there on, and to not use the music sheet at all. I found that by splitting it up into smaller sections, and continually playing just that section over and over, until eventually I could do away with the music altogether, just adding more and more sections as i went along until i had built up the whole song and everything stored in my memory.
Having watched many videos of top organ players on YouTube, as well as live performances at concerts, It occurred to me early on that all the top Organ players don’t need to follow or read music when playing, and all of them bar none play by ear ! I don’t know if that is the correct terminology, but what I mean is they play without having to follow music. . .
So in my mind, this by example was what I needed to do or more importantly what I wanted to do. I don’t want to have to rely on reading music at all, just to enjoy playing! – I have spoken a lot to people and read that those who need to follow the music, are simply lost without it, and cannot play by ear at all !
One thing I have learnt about myself throughout my lifetime, is that if there is an easier method to get to that finishing line with exactly the same end result, then I will keep looking until i find it. And just by chance I found a method of learning to play, and further developed the technique that allows me to play any organ without ever having to read a single note of music ever again, in fact it is so intuitive I cannot understand why anyone who tries this method would ever want to learn to play from written musical notation ever again.
I also tested this method (I’ll call it method 2) on both my son and daughter, both of which have no musical background, neither have ever played before and by doing a side by side comparison of trying to read music, and my new method 2, method 2 won hands down and both of them could instantly play any tune they desired in minutes – At this point you are probably saying to yourself this is BS – trust me, without any assistance, I can show you a method that allows anyone of any age to play instantly !!!
If this is something you would be interested in , then please read the article I wrote on just how this can be achieved here.
(at the time of writing this course/method is still in development)
So everything was in place, I could finally learn to play the Lowrey Stardust Organ, and clicking on the link below, i talk about how this was achieved using method 1, and what song i chose to play, and you can listen for yourself how i got on
My Very First Song & Recording
To be continued . . . . . . Part 4