kelly_sturman

Hello Everybody,

I just messaged the following to Sandra privately, and she asked me to share it hear, in case it might benefit somebody reading it here. I'm happy to do so, and here is the message I sent. I edited it just a tiny bit, because I originally meant it as a private message, and so was being conversational, but this, essentially is what I told Sandra:

Unschooling is making me a better musician! Have you heard that one before? It's true, for me. In the past, I used to approach my practice in a very methodical way. People talk about "playing" a musical instrument, but I didn't used to "play" with the sounds I was making. I was always worried: about tone, articulation, dynamics, tempo, and on and on. Even though I'm a very playful person in some ways, I used to feel too inhibited to really "play" music. I didn't want to be wrong or to fail. Now, I find, more and more, I am able to improvise, to play around with sounds. I'm regaining my joy, and expressing it, and sharing it. It's something I have long wished I could do, and I'm so happy that I'm starting to be able to now. Thank you!

Kelly Sturman

Sandra Dodd

-=-Unschooling is making me a better musician! Have you heard that one before? It's true, for me. In the past, I used to approach my practice in a very methodical way. People talk about "playing" a musical instrument, but I didn't used to "play" with the sounds I was making. I was always worried: about tone, articulation, dynamics, tempo, and on and on. Even though I'm a very playful person in some ways, I used to feel too inhibited to really "play" music. I didn't want to be wrong or to fail. Now, I find, more and more, I am able to improvise, to play around with sounds. I'm regaining my joy, and expressing it, and sharing it. It's something I have long wished I could do, and I'm so happy that I'm starting to be able to now. Thank you! -=-

I love this and I want to save it, but it seems I have no place on my site to put it.

What!??

I know discussions of practicing instruments have come up before, and about learning as adults, and about the difference between "practicing" and PLAYING.

Where are they? I'm sadly suspicious that they were on unschooling.com's long-gone message board or similarly long-gone unschooling.info's.

So if anyone feels like searching (archives here? Unschooling Discussion archives? ) I would love to have some links.

Or if people feel like recreating the fifth wheel (wheel of fifths joke; not a very good one) and lay out all the good ideas you have right here, in this topic, I will be on standby to collect the good parts and have a page to showcase the beautiful thing Kelly Sturman has written.

Sandra

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