Record What You Learn

If there’s one thing I regret from all the time I’ve spent taking music lessons, it’s not recording my lessons sooner.

The first time I started recording my lessons was when I started taking voice lessons in 2013. That undoubtedly sped up my progress as a singer. I still go back and listen to those lessons for reference or when I feel like I’m in a rut. It’s also cool to have an archive to revisit.

But it’s not enough to record your lessons. You need to listen to them and take notes. Or, as we say in music, transcribe.

Why do I listen back and transcribe my lessons? I could have an AI scribe listen in and write it out for me, but as a musician, listening is, well, important. Sure, the AI choice might be faster, but it’s not going to be as helpful.

Listening back to my lessons:

• Shows me my mistakes

• Reinforces what I learned

• Reminds me what I need to practice

• Allows me to hear what my teacher did

• Allows me to hear what I need to work on

• Shows me all the helpful stuff that went in one ear and out the other

We can only take in so much information at once. This is why we’re encouraged to take notes in school.

While you may not be in school, when you’re taking lessons of any kind, you’re in a learning environment. And instead of wondering, “What did my teacher tell me again?” If you record your lesson, the nuggets of information won’t be lost forever.