When to Take Classes

Recently I was at a one-day workshop on "Arranging from a sheet of music". I showed Manisha what I did at the class, and she made a very interesting comment:

"My views about taking classes have changed a lot. I used to think of taking classes whenever I thought of learning something new. Now I believe in dabbling. Start dabbling, build up a basic level of familiarity in the field and then take a formal class to gain proficiency."

That's what she did when she took Computer Science classes at UML as a working software engineer. She learned a lot in those classes. This was in stark contrast to what happened when she did courses for her Bachelor's degree. The courses did not have any context and were done to fulfill graduation requirements. Not much lasting learning happened as a result. I have been arranging a cappella music (although not in barbershop style) for several years, and all that preparation helped me enormously in the class.

We bought Supriya her drumset a year and a half ago. She has been playing it off and on, and now she has a basic familiarity with it. Now that some friends of hers are thinking of a garage-band, I am encouraging her to take drum lessons. She is ready for formal training.