The old saying goes, “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” As we grow as musicians we seem to settle deeper and deeper into ruts. Everything just becomes permutations of our old bag of tricks. As time goes on, adding to that bag of tricks seems as difficult as soaking up honey with a sponge.

The problem isn’t necessarily an age problem (though that’s possible too) the problem is that you failed to practice the one of the most important skills you have. Learning. Think about it. If you could start out with only one skill what would it be? I would choose the ability to learn. It’s like being able to wish for more wishes!

The problem is when people have developed sufficient skills in whatever area they choose, they stop learning new stuff and start recycling whatever skills they already developed. Then they wonder why they struggle to learn new stuff when they inevitably get the tired with their current bag of tricks. It’s because they didn’t practice learning new stuff!

That’s why Steve Smith has been nicked-named the eternal student. He made a habit of learning new things even if it’s only for the sake of keeping his learning abilities sharp. That’s how he can become still branch out in to completely new musical territories (like Indian drumming) at his age.

Try and learn something new every time you practice. An old dog whose one trick is to learn new tricks has every advantage a pup does, except the time to learn it and the body to perform it.

Just something to roll around your head next time you sit down to practice.

Filed under: Musicianship, Opinion

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