In early 2020, I learned some songs on the ukulele. I started with “Michelle” from the Beatles, and then the theme song from my favorite anime. Back in college, I lived with a fantastic musician named Ben, who taught me a solid foundation, but otherwise, my only teacher was YouTube.
At the same time, I was studying German for over two hours a day; my primary teacher was, again, YouTube. Now, when I first meet German people, they often do not notice I am a foreigner—just at first.
A New Chapter
I was not always successful in learning things. For example, I took a decade of piano lessons and cannot play one song. Also, before my senior year, my Italian teacher tutored me at home to make sure I wouldn’t fail the upcoming year.
Why did I suck at the piano and Italian, but have powerful results with the ukulele and German? There are a few reasons.
1. Sense of Autonomy & Intrinsic Motivation
Piano/Italian Failure
Technically, I chose to learn piano. I was four years old playing with a lego when my mom asked if I wanted to take piano lessons; I long regretted my naive "yes".
Italian, I certainly didn't choose. I signed up for German in middle school, but they cut the course, and I got schlepped into Italian class.
I was learning piano for my mom and Italian for school.
Ukulele/German Success
I first started learning guitar because of my housemates Ben and Tommy. Then I switched to the ukulele because four strings are easier than six.
I started learning German when I saw a beautiful woman reading a German novel in a hotel lobby.
Learning both the ukulele and German were of my own accord.
2. Learning Material
Piano/Italian Failure
In Piano lessons, I learned classical songs for beginners. The songs bored me and were unrelated to the music I heard at home. My teacher skipped the ONLY song in the book I wanted to learn, Chopsticks, because she said it was not useful for learning.
As For Italian, I couldn’t have cared less about learning "Rossa means red."
The piano and Italian learning material were boring to me.
Ukulele/German Success
As mentioned, I only learned ukulele songs I liked, and instead of learning sheet music. I learned with simplified tabs:
As for German, I learned from podcasts and YouTube videos like this one:
I learned the ukulele and German with interesting and intuitive material.
3. Consistency
Piano/Italian Failure
The only time I touched a piano was during my lessons once a week.
I never remembered to do my Italian homework or study for a quiz.
Inconsistency plagued my piano and Italian studies.
Ukulele/ German success
I would pick up the ukulele multiple times throughout the day and play for a few minutes.
German podcasts accompany me on foot and on bike rides, and I have created a network of German speakers with whom I keep in touch.
Consistency was a given in my Ukulele and German studies.
Conclusion:
Consistency follows good motivation and learning material
You must enjoy learning to learn well. Instead of asking, “How can I become consistent?” ask, “What would I consistently work on?”
If you are still not sure what you could focus on, here is a helpful question:
Bonus: Ben Schmitz (fantastic musician)
Ben's Music(Link Tree)
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“What would I consistently work on?” Love this!!