Using music to re-contextualize reading and comprehension.

A common troupe that we’ve all heard is that people (especially millennials) have lost the skill to communicate effectively, now that we’re firmly entrenched into the tech dominated landscape of the 21st century. However, people such as a Gary Vee will tell you that people are actually communicating more than ever before. It just doesn’t look like it used to in the past. Well, I’m also compelled now to push back on the notion that people tend to read less after they leave the compulsory learning environment of school as well. I think they’re reading just as much if not more so after they leave school. The difference, however, is the substance of what they’re reading. And to go one step further, an even more compelling argument may be to say that the rate at which people read is of lesser concern than their ability to comprehend and contextualize the importance of what they’re reading.

As a music educator, one of the hardest things to do is to get young students to REALLY listen to a song before sitting down to read it. Their assumption is that if they’ve given a song a few cursory passes, that should be sufficient, as the sheet music “should” fill in the rest of their blind spots. But that assumes that any sheet of music could ever adequately articulate everything that needs to be indicated, and in a way that NO ONE could ever misunderstand. But the reality is that if someone were to adequately write out a chart that could compensate for a musician who has chosen not to listen to how it goes, it would be the most cluttered thing you’d never want to look at, as oftentimes it’s counterproductive to attempt to notate certain things with standard notation—case in point, think about how insufficient it will always be to fully articulate a feeling into a text or email message without it being misinterpreted on some level. Therefore, without an aural component to fully counterbalance written content, it can create something as small as a one-degree misfire that can exponentially grow out of proportion before you know it. So the fact of the matter is that reading is actually a form of “hearing.” Meaning that when you’re reading, you’re hearing the words being said in your head, because if you were to read a foreign language that you had no experience with, you’d just be starring at a bunch of squiggly lines that mean nothing to you. That said, it’s also important to remember that the “faintest ink is more powerful than the strongest memory.” Meaning that the value of writing things down is so it can reduce our cognitive load for keeping the main things “the main things.”

Suggested Takeaways…

a) Words don’t write themselves. People write them. Therefore, a book is a substitute for a conversation with the author. *Hint: Reading is actually “hearing” without the sound. So listen to the people whose writing you consume, and as often as you can, as it’ll increase the speed and absorption rate of your reading.

b) Don’t be so quick to claim ownership of your comprehension of a subject until it has been balanced extensively enough through at least two of your senses (i.e. eyes and ears).  

c) Listening requires patience. So if you’re an impatient person, your mind might not sit still long enough to absorb the most pertinent parts of a story or music. Which, depending on what you’re doing, could present a set of liabilities that may be hard to bounce back from.

Communication: Seeds and Soil

Over the past two weeks I’ve been learning a lot about myself and the world around me. And one of the simple things I’ve been reminded of is how perspective shifts are re-interpretations of reality. Therefore, it’s important that we stay in pursuit of as many objectifiable truths as we can about how the universe works so that we can improve upon the way in which we engage with everything and everyone. So as always, the purpose of this blog post is to draw some compelling lines between the subject matter, music, and the human condition.

If you’re a farmer, there are a number of things and tests that have to be done to a plot of land before the process of planting seeds begins. And even after seeds have been planted there’s still a process of maintenance that must occur so as to ensure the healthy growth of the crops that are meant to be harvested. Which, as you can imagine, is no different than the process of preparing for a child and the subsequent raising of that child from inception to adulthood. So if we take this same farming concept to the way in which we engage in communicating with one another, what specifically might this look like?

When strangers meet for the first time, it’s almost like watching two prize fighters square off as they size each other up physically and intellectually through small talk. And perhaps that’s one of those constants that we might see throughout the animal kingdom where two animals have to establish if the other will be friendly or adversarial before they allow themselves to put their safety guard down. But regardless as to if I’m right or not about this, it still occurs to me that this process of evaluating each other can be a good analogy for how we evaluate plots of land for harvesting. Therefore, since all of the ways in which we communicate verbally and non-verbally are like seeds that we’re constantly spreading around, both intentionally and unintentionally, the question becomes whether or not we’re aware of what the quality is of the seeds we’re sowing. After all, to not know the substance of the seeds you’re planting in people would be like a band leader who allows someone to create and post a gig flier all over town for an upcoming show without proofing the flyer before it gets deployed. It could be fine, but they’ll never know for sure.

Now regarding the planting of seeds where you know what the substance of those seeds are, can allow you to stay in the driver’s seat of how you navigate the opportunities that will present themselves to you along your journey in life. That said, it’s also important to remember that just because you want to plant seeds somewhere, it doesn’t mean that you can if the soil isn’t conducive for you to do so. So just like in business, timing is important. So to be successful you’d want to start by surveying the substance of the soil to determine if what you intend to plant will be supported by that environment before you start determining the kinds of tools you’ll need to help prep the land for what you intend to grow. And again, there’s still a process of constant care that needs to be applied towards the final harvesting of your crops. But the better you prep on the front end, the easier it should be to maintain the integrity of your crops once they start to bloom.

Suggested Takeaways…

a) We are constantly broadcasting thoughts about ourselves and others in both verbal and non-verbal ways. So if a broadcast station has to be mindful of all the direct and indirect messaging that comes from their station, then it’s a good idea for us to be just as mindful of all the messages we’re broadcasting as well.

b) Before you begin the intentional practice of sowing good seeds into people, it’s helpful to know what the substance of their mind is, because to continue planting a certain type of seed in the field of someone’s mind that’s not ready for it can emotionally burn you out if you fail to survey the “land” before you begin.

c) Just like with construction, the more work you put in on the front end to prep a parcel of land, the faster the growth process will go. So to quote my man John C. Maxwell “you can either pay now and play later, or play now and pay later.” Either way, you have to pay. The difference, however, is that when you pay on the back end, you’ll always pay with interest.