Wayne Krantz: Playing by Ear - Learn It and Forget

I can’t remember where I first heard the phrase, “Learn everything and then forget it.” I know Jaco Pastorius said it, and maybe three or four others who mattered to me as musicians. It’s about coming to terms with and ultimately transcending the mountain of theoretical knowledge sitting out there—the Mt. Fuji of expectations, possibilities, secrets, and ritualized monastic study that promises: “If you just learn this, then you will sound good, guaranteed, every single time. But only if you also learn this … then that.”

The “learn and forget” phrase is meant to enlighten, but like so many others of its kind, can just be confusing. How long does it take to learn “everything?” How will I know when and how to “forget” everything? And, most importantly, did Jimmy Page have to do this?

Read more: http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/Issue/2012/Oct/Digging_Deeper_Playing_by_Ear_Learn_It_and_Forget_It.aspx