The recipe for perpetual ignorance is: Be satisfied with your opinions and content with your knowledge.

Elbert Hubbard (American editor, publisher and writer, 1856-1915)

I often meet people who say they don’t know anything about music, or have the mistaken believe they aren’t “musical” at all. Such conversations make me think that we should expand our definition to be more inclusive. Think you don’t know much about music? Think you do? Either way, you probably know more than you think you do. Knowing means much more than being able to talk about something. Often, especially when very young, we learn without being aware we’re learning. This is the most magical type of learning because it seems to happen without effort. We absorb relationships with sound from our environment. Check out how Bobby McFerrin plays with what we know and expect. His results are the same no matter where in the world he goes. Even if you can’t match a pitch with your voice (yet), you’ll “get” it.

Want to learn more about the best ways to practice? Get an e-mail with a discount code when The Practice of Practice is published (June, 2014). To learn more about the book, check out a sample from The Practice of Practice.