December 17, 2024 • 18 mins
I got so much more value out of my private music lessons with note-taking. Here are some ways to get started with it!
This episode is available as a blog post. Click here to read!
If you want more musical fun, sign up to get emails from me here!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I brain dump just absolutely everything stream of
consciousness, all of my, all ofthe things into a notebook.
Hello and welcome to theConfident Musicianing podcast.
My name is Eleanor and I am aBritish-American oboist studying
at the Royal Conservatoire ofScotland literally my dream
(00:20):
school and it took me a long wayto get there.
I applied and auditioned for 12schools in three different
countries.
It was a lot of hard work but,oh my gosh, so worth it.
I want you to have theconfidence to work hard in
achieving your goals.
So come with me as we go onthis journey together.
(00:41):
So sit down, pull up a chair,take a seat or, if you're on the
go, welcome to the ConfidentMusicianing Podcast.
Hello and welcome back toanother episode of the Confident
Musicianing Podcast.
Thank you so much for beinghere.
(01:02):
I am so grateful that you arehere and so lucky.
I feel so lucky that you arehere and that we can have this
time to spend together, to chatand hang out and just you know
it's good vibes.
So today we are going to betalking about taking notes after
your sessions, or taking notesabout your sessions, your
(01:24):
practice, well, your lessons.
That's it, yeah, so let's getinto it.
So, basically, when I startedworking with the Associate
Principal Oboist of thePittsburgh Symphony, I did not
take notes after my lesson.
And I remember one lesson myteacher said to me.
He was like why don't you like?
You should like.
This is definitely somethingthat you should do.
(01:45):
And I can see why.
Because when I started takingnotes, just the lessons became
so much more valuable because Iwas able to retain more
information and just have thelessons be worth more to me.
And I have been doing this nowfor about three and a half years
(02:08):
.
I still take notes and it's soimportant to my lessons, it is
like a part of them.
So today I want to show you howI take notes, because I feel
like when we say take notes fora lesson, you might well.
I was definitely.
(02:28):
I was like how do I do this?
And you might be like that aswell.
So whether you take notes nowand you love taking notes, and
maybe you just want to see howsomeone else takes notes, or
you're curious about takingnotes, or you're like Ele, what
are you talking about?
Let's all let's you know, let'sget into this and see.
(02:48):
So I have a lot of notebooks.
If you're listening to this Iam currently holding, I don't
know how many one, two, three,four, five, six, seven, eight,
nine, ten, eleven notebooks, 11notebooks all filled with notes.
This is not the extent of mynotebook Notebooks that I have.
(03:09):
This is most of them, but notall of them.
These notebooks are allnotebooks that I have finished,
I have filled, and they are fullof notes from my lessons and
they're just full of knowledge.
And I literally I brought themwith me from the States to the
UK because I just moved recentlyto the UK to study at the Royal
Conservatoire of Scotland.
So all of these notebooks thatI'm holding are notes that I
(03:32):
took in the States, but I stillbrought them over in my suitcase
because they are so, so, sovaluable to me in my practice
and in my learning.
So I have them here and we'regonna talk about them and dive
into it, and I'm so excited todo this with you, so let's get
into it.
(03:53):
So the first thing that I thinkis important to talk about is
whether we are taking notes inthe lesson versus after the
lesson.
I think this is reallyimportant because if we're in,
say, a lecture, you would takenotes during your lecture.
That makes sense, but in alesson, I feel like it's a wee
bit different.
I almost always take notesafter, almost always, like, in
(04:17):
fact, maybe 98% of the time I amtaking notes after Well, 100%
of the lessons I'm taking notesafter, but 98% of the
note-taking I do is after thesession and the idea of it is
when I am in the lesson.
I am there, I am focused, I amlistening to my teacher, I am
(04:39):
doing what my teacher says, I am, you know, I play something my
teacher says play it like this.
I try it, I get you know, Iunderstand it through there.
And then when I go home, ormaybe on my way home or in the
library or whatever, I braindump just absolutely everything,
(04:59):
stream of consciousness, all ofmy, all of the things, into a
notebook.
And I think this is so so, so,so, so, so helpful to soak it in
during your lesson and thenjust spew it.
Well, that's kind of gross.
Just put it out on a page andhave that just brain dump into a
(05:25):
notebook.
And yeah, it's amazing.
And you might be thinking,eleanor, what if I don't
remember everything?
And I understand that.
I understand that nervousnessof not necessarily understand or
remembering everything that youlearned in your lesson.
And what I say to that isyou'll probably remember more
(05:46):
than you realize, at least in myexperience I think, oh my gosh,
what am I going to remember?
And then I get down to writingand it just flows.
And the thing that really helpsme remember things especially
if I'm not, you know, if Istruggle with, because sometimes
I do struggle to remember thethings and I'm like gosh, you
know, what did they say, whatdidn't they say?
And of course you don't geteverything in the notebook, and
(06:10):
that's fine as well.
But something that I foundreally really, really helpful is
to have the music with you andlook at the music as you're
writing it down.
So not necessarily just have anotebook and like think about it
, but actually take out themusic that you were working on
and look at the music as you'rewriting it down.
So not necessarily just have anotebook and like think about it
, but actually take out themusic that you were working on
and look at the notes and youknow everything on the page.
(06:32):
And that can sometimes helpkind of jog your memory.
And also it's helpful if you'retalking about a specific phrase
, you can say the measure,numbers, et cetera.
So I highly recommend havingyour music out as you are taking
notes.
Another thing that's helpful isto take notes in the order that
it was in the lesson.
So let's say I work on I don'tknow an etude first and then I
(06:54):
don't know, I've been working onthe Schumann romances recently.
So etude, maybe Ferling, etude,schumann romance, and I don't
know something else, reed makingmy notes then in my notebook
would have that as well Fairling, schumann readmaking, and that
would be like that.
And it helps me kind ofremember everything if it's in
(07:15):
the same order and that's just ame thing.
If it's different for you, thenthat's fine too.
The only time I did say 98% ofthe time, the only time that I
take notes in class or not inclass in the lesson is when
we're talking about reed makingand there are like numbers,
numbers that I know I won'tremember.
So, for instance, you know ifyou're tying and this is very
(07:37):
specific to oboes, but I'm surethat there's you know some
equivalent for other instrumentsas well.
But if you're say tying the,you know the thread of the reed
at a specific, the read at aspecific number.
Or maybe you know something hasto be this specific.
You know thick on themicrometer or just basically
numbers that I know that I mightnot remember.
(07:59):
I wrote those down or diagrams.
If I have to like draw a readand then, you know, write things
on it, sometimes I'll do thatin the lesson, but that isn't to
disturb or disrupt the lesson.
I'm not like making the teacherwait while I write right.
I'm just kind of jotting thingsdown as they're showing me so
that I will remember those,because I know that numbers I
(08:20):
don't always remember.
If it's like tied to I don'tknow 47 millimeters or whatever,
that I might not remember thefirst time I hear it.
So that's important to rememberas well.
The second thing you might think, um, the second question you
might have, and I had when Istarted doing this, is what do I
(08:42):
write?
My answer to that is everything, absolutely everything that you
can remember.
Just go for it.
Now there's a lot of I mean, ifyou like listening to this, my
what was it?
11 notebooks.
There is a lot to write andthere you know when you start
(09:03):
writing it.
Just it does go.
But I think it's interestingbecause I feel like there are
two different types of notesthat I take.
I take detailed notes and thenI take broad notes and I'm going
to pick a notebook out from thestack here this one is.
(09:24):
I love these notebooks, so thisone has writing on the outside
of it because I ran out of paperin the notebook.
So on the cover, if you know,there's, there's writing which
is which is so like aesthetic ofof taking notes.
But if I go into this I feellike this notebook I used, maybe
(09:44):
this time last year, I'm notsure but if I go into it I just
pick a random page.
It's so, so specific.
So, for instance, we havemeasure three the grace notes
(10:06):
are on the beat make the Clouder than the E flat and the E
flat softer than the C.
Very specific Line two, measuretwo make this line focused.
Don't accent the downbeats, thefast notes, move it.
That's very, very detailed.
(10:26):
Then you have other notes whereyou could say pay attention to
the dynamics, don't change itunless it has to be changed.
Or I recently had a lessonwhere we talked about different
methods of practicing dependingon how much time you have.
That's not very detailed, butit is kind of a broader idea.
So there's two different ways totake notes and I think it's
(10:50):
important to do both.
You'll have some times I dothis, especially with Mozart
where I take notes and it's likeline you know, it's like
measure one, measure two,measure three, and literally
every measure has a thought.
And then I'll have times whereI do broad things where it's
(11:11):
like, you know, line one createa stronger crescendo or
something that is more broadthan you know, this note has to
be like this and this note hasto be like this.
So I think it's important tojust jot down everything, right,
absolutely everything that youcan remember, and just do a lot
(11:33):
of stuff.
One thing that helps me as wellis I put a simile which is
Italian and if you might haveseen it on music, it's a, and
simile is like and similar.
So if I have, say, a phrase orsomething that shows up a lot, I
don't have to like write itover and over and over again.
If I have, say, a phrase orsomething that shows up a lot, I
don't have to like write itover and over and over again.
(11:54):
So I'll say, you know, forinstance, measures 50 to 51, a
simile, it has to be like this,and that means measures 15 51
have to be like this, but so doother measures that have the
same theme.
Yeah, so that is that what towrite everything.
And you might be thinking well,eleanor, how long does this
(12:17):
take if I am writing everythingfrom, say, an hour lesson, or
maybe longer or shorter, I don'tknow.
And my answer to that is itjust takes as long as it needs
to take, and sometimes I amquite surprised by how long or
how short it takes.
Sometimes I finish a lesson I'mlike I don't have that much to
write and then it just flows andI'm like you know, before I
(12:38):
know it, I've filled like twopages.
Or sometimes I'm like, oh mygosh, there was so much goodness
that happened in this lesson,but it was all broad things, so
on a page it's not actually thatmany words.
So it's very, it's verydifferent and you kind of just
find what works for you.
Now the third thing is writethings that work for you, which
(12:58):
is just what I said in thesecond thing.
So this is important as well.
So, for instance, imagery forme is really helpful, making
things be more like visual.
For instance, if I saysomething like line three is, I
don't know, floaty like afeather or something like that,
(13:19):
maybe someone else might notunderstand what I mean by that.
But as long as I understandwhat I mean by that, it can be
fine.
I say a lot yum-pum-pum, thisis very yumpy, and what I mean
by that is the notes are round.
I say like molasses, if I wantsomething to be really kind of
thick and full of sound, thingslike that, things like that.
(13:45):
That might not necessarily makesense to other people, but just
write the things that work foryou.
And if your teacher says onething, right.
If your teacher says, do itlike this, like a floating, like
a feather and maybe floatinglike a feather doesn't work for
you.
Maybe you tried it, thinkingabout that and it doesn't work.
But maybe if you think about itfloating like a leaf, for
instance, and your teachers likeyou, you think about floating
(14:08):
like a leaf and your teacherslike, oh yes, you know that that
sounded good, then write in,think about floating like a leaf
, and your teacher's like, ohyes, you know that that sounded
good.
Then write in your thingfloating like a leaf, write what
works for you, or you can writewhat your teacher says as well,
but prioritize what works foryou.
It's really, it's reallyhelpful to do that.
Um, yeah, so it can it?
Can you know, sound quitestrange.
(14:29):
Sometimes I've posted like, umyou know strange.
Sometimes I've posted, like umyou know, pictures where I've
had, like, my notebook in thepicture, and sometimes I get
responses like what are yournotes?
They make?
They, they're weird, like they.
They say random stuff, likefloating like a feather, or yum
pom pom or things like that.
And yeah, it's just stuff thatworks for me.
(14:50):
So do what works for you,because in the end then you know
that's the most important thing.
All right, let's do a recap,shall we?
Um, the first thing is in thesession, taking notes in the
session versus after the session.
I recommend 100% take the notesafter the session, unless there
are things like numbers thatyou know you won't remember and
(15:11):
you can say can I just jot thesenumbers down?
That's more for readmaking forme, but it might translate into
other instruments as well.
The second thing is what towrite?
Everything, write everything.
This is really important.
You have, you know, we talkedabout details versus bigger
stuff.
You know more broader stuff.
(15:32):
Write both of them.
Write everything that comes toyour mind.
I even, for a while, I wrotelike motivational stuff as well,
because I was going throughlike a phase where I had a lot
of low self-esteem with my oboeplaying, so I would write these
phrases, like you know, I knowit's hard, but you've got this,
or you know, I'm proud of youfor working through this, etc.
(15:54):
And so when I went back to mynotes in practicing, I saw them
and saw those little littlequotes and not quotes, but like
motivational sentences that Ihad written and it just it me.
It helped me a bit.
So that's something importantas well, if you want to do that.
And then the last thing iswrite things that work for you,
(16:18):
even if they don't necessarilymake sense to other people.
These are your notes.
Your notes are personal to you.
If you want to writeyum-pum-pum or yumpy or like
molasses or like a feather orwhatever it is, write it, as
long as it works for you.
That is the most importantthing.
All right, that is about it forthis episode.
(16:40):
I hope that this episode washelpful for you and I hope that
it inspires you to get a journal, to get a pen and to write some
things or a notebook, you know,whatever it is, you can go as
you know, as fancy schmancy oras not fancy schmancy.
I remember I'm currentlyholding two notebooks.
(17:00):
These notebooks say things likepassionate about culture and
history just add German.
Because they are notebooks thatI got for free in my middle
school German class and I didn'twrite in them for years and
then I found them and I justwrote oboe notes in them.
(17:21):
Another one says feelingadventurous just add German.
It has nothing to do with oboe,but and they're also like,
really like they were free.
I didn't spend much money onthem at all, I spent no money on
them, but they just, they workreally like they were free.
I didn't.
I didn't spend much money onthem at all, I spent no money on
them.
Um, but they just they work fornotes and they were helpful.
So you can go, you know, asfancy schmancy or as um chill as
(17:41):
you, as you want, it doesn'tmatter.
Whatever works for you, um,yeah, so I hope that this
episode was helpful for you.
Let me know if it was.
I'd be so grateful.
You can DM me on Instagram ateleanorobo.
You can email me at eleanor, atconfidentmusicianingcom.
I'd love to hear from you.
I hope that this episode washelpful.
(18:02):
As always, all the things to dowith this episode will be in the
show notes, including the blogpost that goes with this episode
.
If you want more from me,including the blog post that
goes with this episode, if youwant more from me, you can sign
up for my email list.
That is also something you cando.
I send fun emails about music,cute, cozy, relaxing, chill
emails, stuff about the podcast.
(18:24):
I send out freebies, guides,all the things behind the scenes
just fun stuff.
So if that sounds like you,please do click the things
behind the scenes just fun stuff.
So if that sounds like you,please do click the link in the
show notes to sign up and I willsee you in the next episode.
Alright, take care.
Bye.
I brain dump just absolutely everything stream of
consciousness, all of my, all ofthe things into a notebook.
Hello and welcome to theConfident Musicianing podcast.
My name is Eleanor and I am aBritish-American oboist studying
at the Royal Conservatoire ofScotland literally my dream
(00:20):
school and it took me a long wayto get there.
I applied and auditioned for 12schools in three different
countries.
It was a lot of hard work but,oh my gosh, so worth it.
I want you to have theconfidence to work hard in
achieving your goals.
So come with me as we go onthis journey together.
(00:41):
So sit down, pull up a chair,take a seat or, if you're on the
go, welcome to the ConfidentMusicianing Podcast.
Hello and welcome back toanother episode of the Confident
Musicianing Podcast.
Thank you so much for beinghere.
(01:02):
I am so grateful that you arehere and so lucky.
I feel so lucky that you arehere and that we can have this
time to spend together, to chatand hang out and just you know
it's good vibes.
So today we are going to betalking about taking notes after
your sessions, or taking notesabout your sessions, your
(01:24):
practice, well, your lessons.
That's it, yeah, so let's getinto it.
So, basically, when I startedworking with the Associate
Principal Oboist of thePittsburgh Symphony, I did not
take notes after my lesson.
And I remember one lesson myteacher said to me.
He was like why don't you like?
You should like.
This is definitely somethingthat you should do.
(01:45):
And I can see why.
Because when I started takingnotes, just the lessons became
so much more valuable because Iwas able to retain more
information and just have thelessons be worth more to me.
And I have been doing this nowfor about three and a half years
(02:08):
.
I still take notes and it's soimportant to my lessons, it is
like a part of them.
So today I want to show you howI take notes, because I feel
like when we say take notes fora lesson, you might well.
I was definitely.
(02:28):
I was like how do I do this?
And you might be like that aswell.
So whether you take notes nowand you love taking notes, and
maybe you just want to see howsomeone else takes notes, or
you're curious about takingnotes, or you're like Ele, what
are you talking about?
Let's all let's you know, let'sget into this and see.
(02:48):
So I have a lot of notebooks.
If you're listening to this Iam currently holding, I don't
know how many one, two, three,four, five, six, seven, eight,
nine, ten, eleven notebooks, 11notebooks all filled with notes.
This is not the extent of mynotebook Notebooks that I have.
(03:09):
This is most of them, but notall of them.
These notebooks are allnotebooks that I have finished,
I have filled, and they are fullof notes from my lessons and
they're just full of knowledge.
And I literally I brought themwith me from the States to the
UK because I just moved recentlyto the UK to study at the Royal
Conservatoire of Scotland.
So all of these notebooks thatI'm holding are notes that I
(03:32):
took in the States, but I stillbrought them over in my suitcase
because they are so, so, sovaluable to me in my practice
and in my learning.
So I have them here and we'regonna talk about them and dive
into it, and I'm so excited todo this with you, so let's get
into it.
(03:53):
So the first thing that I thinkis important to talk about is
whether we are taking notes inthe lesson versus after the
lesson.
I think this is reallyimportant because if we're in,
say, a lecture, you would takenotes during your lecture.
That makes sense, but in alesson, I feel like it's a wee
bit different.
I almost always take notesafter, almost always, like, in
(04:17):
fact, maybe 98% of the time I amtaking notes after Well, 100%
of the lessons I'm taking notesafter, but 98% of the
note-taking I do is after thesession and the idea of it is
when I am in the lesson.
I am there, I am focused, I amlistening to my teacher, I am
(04:39):
doing what my teacher says, I am, you know, I play something my
teacher says play it like this.
I try it, I get you know, Iunderstand it through there.
And then when I go home, ormaybe on my way home or in the
library or whatever, I braindump just absolutely everything,
(04:59):
stream of consciousness, all ofmy, all of the things, into a
notebook.
And I think this is so so, so,so, so, so helpful to soak it in
during your lesson and thenjust spew it.
Well, that's kind of gross.
Just put it out on a page andhave that just brain dump into a
(05:25):
notebook.
And yeah, it's amazing.
And you might be thinking,eleanor, what if I don't
remember everything?
And I understand that.
I understand that nervousnessof not necessarily understand or
remembering everything that youlearned in your lesson.
And what I say to that isyou'll probably remember more
(05:46):
than you realize, at least in myexperience I think, oh my gosh,
what am I going to remember?
And then I get down to writingand it just flows.
And the thing that really helpsme remember things especially
if I'm not, you know, if Istruggle with, because sometimes
I do struggle to remember thethings and I'm like gosh, you
know, what did they say, whatdidn't they say?
And of course you don't geteverything in the notebook, and
(06:10):
that's fine as well.
But something that I foundreally really, really helpful is
to have the music with you andlook at the music as you're
writing it down.
So not necessarily just have anotebook and like think about it
, but actually take out themusic that you were working on
and look at the music as you'rewriting it down.
So not necessarily just have anotebook and like think about it
, but actually take out themusic that you were working on
and look at the notes and youknow everything on the page.
(06:32):
And that can sometimes helpkind of jog your memory.
And also it's helpful if you'retalking about a specific phrase
, you can say the measure,numbers, et cetera.
So I highly recommend havingyour music out as you are taking
notes.
Another thing that's helpful isto take notes in the order that
it was in the lesson.
So let's say I work on I don'tknow an etude first and then I
(06:54):
don't know, I've been working onthe Schumann romances recently.
So etude, maybe Ferling, etude,schumann romance, and I don't
know something else, reed makingmy notes then in my notebook
would have that as well Fairling, schumann readmaking, and that
would be like that.
And it helps me kind ofremember everything if it's in
(07:15):
the same order and that's just ame thing.
If it's different for you, thenthat's fine too.
The only time I did say 98% ofthe time, the only time that I
take notes in class or not inclass in the lesson is when
we're talking about reed makingand there are like numbers,
numbers that I know I won'tremember.
So, for instance, you know ifyou're tying and this is very
(07:37):
specific to oboes, but I'm surethat there's you know some
equivalent for other instrumentsas well.
But if you're say tying the,you know the thread of the reed
at a specific, the read at aspecific number.
Or maybe you know something hasto be this specific.
You know thick on themicrometer or just basically
numbers that I know that I mightnot remember.
(07:59):
I wrote those down or diagrams.
If I have to like draw a readand then, you know, write things
on it, sometimes I'll do thatin the lesson, but that isn't to
disturb or disrupt the lesson.
I'm not like making the teacherwait while I write right.
I'm just kind of jotting thingsdown as they're showing me so
that I will remember those,because I know that numbers I
(08:20):
don't always remember.
If it's like tied to I don'tknow 47 millimeters or whatever,
that I might not remember thefirst time I hear it.
So that's important to rememberas well.
The second thing you might think, um, the second question you
might have, and I had when Istarted doing this, is what do I
(08:42):
write?
My answer to that is everything, absolutely everything that you
can remember.
Just go for it.
Now there's a lot of I mean, ifyou like listening to this, my
what was it?
11 notebooks.
There is a lot to write andthere you know when you start
(09:03):
writing it.
Just it does go.
But I think it's interestingbecause I feel like there are
two different types of notesthat I take.
I take detailed notes and thenI take broad notes and I'm going
to pick a notebook out from thestack here this one is.
(09:24):
I love these notebooks, so thisone has writing on the outside
of it because I ran out of paperin the notebook.
So on the cover, if you know,there's, there's writing which
is which is so like aesthetic ofof taking notes.
But if I go into this I feellike this notebook I used, maybe
(09:44):
this time last year, I'm notsure but if I go into it I just
pick a random page.
It's so, so specific.
So, for instance, we havemeasure three the grace notes
(10:06):
are on the beat make the Clouder than the E flat and the E
flat softer than the C.
Very specific Line two, measuretwo make this line focused.
Don't accent the downbeats, thefast notes, move it.
That's very, very detailed.
(10:26):
Then you have other notes whereyou could say pay attention to
the dynamics, don't change itunless it has to be changed.
Or I recently had a lessonwhere we talked about different
methods of practicing dependingon how much time you have.
That's not very detailed, butit is kind of a broader idea.
So there's two different ways totake notes and I think it's
(10:50):
important to do both.
You'll have some times I dothis, especially with Mozart
where I take notes and it's likeline you know, it's like
measure one, measure two,measure three, and literally
every measure has a thought.
And then I'll have times whereI do broad things where it's
(11:11):
like, you know, line one createa stronger crescendo or
something that is more broadthan you know, this note has to
be like this and this note hasto be like this.
So I think it's important tojust jot down everything, right,
absolutely everything that youcan remember, and just do a lot
(11:33):
of stuff.
One thing that helps me as wellis I put a simile which is
Italian and if you might haveseen it on music, it's a, and
simile is like and similar.
So if I have, say, a phrase orsomething that shows up a lot, I
don't have to like write itover and over and over again.
If I have, say, a phrase orsomething that shows up a lot, I
don't have to like write itover and over and over again.
(11:54):
So I'll say, you know, forinstance, measures 50 to 51, a
simile, it has to be like this,and that means measures 15 51
have to be like this, but so doother measures that have the
same theme.
Yeah, so that is that what towrite everything.
And you might be thinking well,eleanor, how long does this
(12:17):
take if I am writing everythingfrom, say, an hour lesson, or
maybe longer or shorter, I don'tknow.
And my answer to that is itjust takes as long as it needs
to take, and sometimes I amquite surprised by how long or
how short it takes.
Sometimes I finish a lesson I'mlike I don't have that much to
write and then it just flows andI'm like you know, before I
(12:38):
know it, I've filled like twopages.
Or sometimes I'm like, oh mygosh, there was so much goodness
that happened in this lesson,but it was all broad things, so
on a page it's not actually thatmany words.
So it's very, it's verydifferent and you kind of just
find what works for you.
Now the third thing is writethings that work for you, which
(12:58):
is just what I said in thesecond thing.
So this is important as well.
So, for instance, imagery forme is really helpful, making
things be more like visual.
For instance, if I saysomething like line three is, I
don't know, floaty like afeather or something like that,
(13:19):
maybe someone else might notunderstand what I mean by that.
But as long as I understandwhat I mean by that, it can be
fine.
I say a lot yum-pum-pum, thisis very yumpy, and what I mean
by that is the notes are round.
I say like molasses, if I wantsomething to be really kind of
thick and full of sound, thingslike that, things like that.
(13:45):
That might not necessarily makesense to other people, but just
write the things that work foryou.
And if your teacher says onething, right.
If your teacher says, do itlike this, like a floating, like
a feather and maybe floatinglike a feather doesn't work for
you.
Maybe you tried it, thinkingabout that and it doesn't work.
But maybe if you think about itfloating like a leaf, for
instance, and your teachers likeyou, you think about floating
(14:08):
like a leaf and your teacherslike, oh yes, you know that that
sounded good, then write in,think about floating like a leaf
, and your teacher's like, ohyes, you know that that sounded
good.
Then write in your thingfloating like a leaf, write what
works for you, or you can writewhat your teacher says as well,
but prioritize what works foryou.
It's really, it's reallyhelpful to do that.
Um, yeah, so it can it?
Can you know, sound quitestrange.
(14:29):
Sometimes I've posted like, umyou know strange.
Sometimes I've posted, like umyou know, pictures where I've
had, like, my notebook in thepicture, and sometimes I get
responses like what are yournotes?
They make?
They, they're weird, like they.
They say random stuff, likefloating like a feather, or yum
pom pom or things like that.
And yeah, it's just stuff thatworks for me.
(14:50):
So do what works for you,because in the end then you know
that's the most important thing.
All right, let's do a recap,shall we?
Um, the first thing is in thesession, taking notes in the
session versus after the session.
I recommend 100% take the notesafter the session, unless there
are things like numbers thatyou know you won't remember and
(15:11):
you can say can I just jot thesenumbers down?
That's more for readmaking forme, but it might translate into
other instruments as well.
The second thing is what towrite?
Everything, write everything.
This is really important.
You have, you know, we talkedabout details versus bigger
stuff.
You know more broader stuff.
(15:32):
Write both of them.
Write everything that comes toyour mind.
I even, for a while, I wrotelike motivational stuff as well,
because I was going throughlike a phase where I had a lot
of low self-esteem with my oboeplaying, so I would write these
phrases, like you know, I knowit's hard, but you've got this,
or you know, I'm proud of youfor working through this, etc.
(15:54):
And so when I went back to mynotes in practicing, I saw them
and saw those little littlequotes and not quotes, but like
motivational sentences that Ihad written and it just it me.
It helped me a bit.
So that's something importantas well, if you want to do that.
And then the last thing iswrite things that work for you,
(16:18):
even if they don't necessarilymake sense to other people.
These are your notes.
Your notes are personal to you.
If you want to writeyum-pum-pum or yumpy or like
molasses or like a feather orwhatever it is, write it, as
long as it works for you.
That is the most importantthing.
All right, that is about it forthis episode.
(16:40):
I hope that this episode washelpful for you and I hope that
it inspires you to get a journal, to get a pen and to write some
things or a notebook, you know,whatever it is, you can go as
you know, as fancy schmancy oras not fancy schmancy.
I remember I'm currentlyholding two notebooks.
(17:00):
These notebooks say things likepassionate about culture and
history just add German.
Because they are notebooks thatI got for free in my middle
school German class and I didn'twrite in them for years and
then I found them and I justwrote oboe notes in them.
(17:21):
Another one says feelingadventurous just add German.
It has nothing to do with oboe,but and they're also like,
really like they were free.
I didn't spend much money onthem at all, I spent no money on
them, but they just, they workreally like they were free.
I didn't.
I didn't spend much money onthem at all, I spent no money on
them.
Um, but they just they work fornotes and they were helpful.
So you can go, you know, asfancy schmancy or as um chill as
(17:41):
you, as you want, it doesn'tmatter.
Whatever works for you, um,yeah, so I hope that this
episode was helpful for you.
Let me know if it was.
I'd be so grateful.
You can DM me on Instagram ateleanorobo.
You can email me at eleanor, atconfidentmusicianingcom.
I'd love to hear from you.
I hope that this episode washelpful.
(18:02):
As always, all the things to dowith this episode will be in the
show notes, including the blogpost that goes with this episode
.
If you want more from me,including the blog post that
goes with this episode, if youwant more from me, you can sign
up for my email list.
That is also something you cando.
I send fun emails about music,cute, cozy, relaxing, chill
emails, stuff about the podcast.
(18:24):
I send out freebies, guides,all the things behind the scenes
just fun stuff.
So if that sounds like you,please do click the things
behind the scenes just fun stuff.
So if that sounds like you,please do click the link in the
show notes to sign up and I willsee you in the next episode.
Alright, take care.
Bye.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!