My learning journey was characterized by a significant focus on music theory. I think that music theory is an extremely important part of the puzzle when it comes to understanding AND playing music and I wanted to give it proper time and attention. I understand that the task of our assignment was to learn to play an instrument and therefore learning about the nitty-gritty details wasn’t a requirement however for me jumping into playing an instrument before developing the foundational knowledge associated with such a practice felt counterintuitive to me. I have included notes that I made in my musical journal throughout my learning journey. The notes included in this post correspond to the topics that I approached first. I had to start with the absolute basics because I had no previous experience with music.
As you can see, I began my musical learning by developing a thorough understanding of musical notation as well as familiarizing myself with how the notes correspond to my chosen instrument (the piano). I did this so that I would be able to read music and understand how to play what I saw not just when it came to pitches but also the rhythm of the piece. Developing an understanding of the chromatic scale helped me foster a comprehensive understanding of musical scales and chords.