“I decided to be a dentist, since my uncle died from tooth ache” says a comedian in a Malayalam film. His friend asks: “Hmm… how did your uncle get the tooth ache?” “A truck hit him in the face.”
Should treatment be decided based on symptom without context?
Can growth be understood without knowing what was before?
Local optimization is when the problem has not been redefined to include the real goal, context, the good at the highest level.
You play the guitar. Someone gives you more notes. Playing doesn’t get better. What if the real reason is that you are causing delay by looking at the picking hand? What if you need to experiment and figure out the least required pressure to get the slide done, but not limit your fluency by too much friction?
You know carnatic. But you know film songs better.
The slight difference in familiarity and possibly interest, makes a difference in how fast you acquire skills.
Starting with simple raga based film song phrases that you know very well and are really interested in, gives you quicker and surer vertical skill growth, which then you can use with carnatic if you choose to.
Your practice now, has to be decided based on your life.
Not just “I want to play guitar” “Here are the notes”
Imagine at a shoe shop. Do we just take whatever the salesperson gives us? Or would a good sales person ask the needs and details too?
It’s just common sense. Somehow missing in educational fields – whether in school curriculum or music education.