seven levels of musical fluency
The following is my personal system of measuring musical proficiency. While it is somewhat subjective, I believe it provides a helpful framework for understanding one's capabilities and goals.
​
___
​
I. Imitation
Imitation is the first level of learning a language. Before babies learn to speak, they start trying to make the sounds they hear - often very poorly at first. With practice, they improve at replicating these sounds. At this step, you may or may not understand much of the meaning behind what you are hearing and playing - that is to be expected. We learn best through immersion, not by figuring everything out first.
​
II. Recitation
Once we know how to imitate, we can begin to memorize and repeat specific sequences of sounds. Recitation aims to express something in a specific form, word for word or note for note. We can also recite written music if we know how to read. However, some musicians learn to recite long works by simply listening and remembering what they have heard.
​
III. Reading
Learning to read music is similar to learning to read any other written language: we come to associate markings with specific sounds in order to recreate something aurally. It’s important to note that this step is not required — it can come at any time in the process or be skipped entirely; and many musicians arrive to the final level of fluency without ever developing this skill. It's also possible to read by simply creating the proper sounds without knowing their meaning, and even many highly-trained musicians do this. Because of this, reading is not an accurate metric of musical fluency.
​
IV. Comprehension
In order to give an effective performance, you must be aware of the meaning of what you are saying. Musical meaning is complex because we don’t have specific definitions for intervals, chords, or harmonic movements, and their meanings are subjective to a certain extent. However, the more you speak the language, the more you begin to implicitly understand these meanings and how they develop and shift across contexts.
V. Crafting
Through crafting, you seek to create something specific to express a desired idea. Whether or not you write it down, you aim to develop something fixed and replicable. At the beginning, it can take a long time and a lot of trial and error to figure out the best way of expressing what you are trying to say.
​
VI. Communication
In the communication stage, you are able to express yourself through music spontaneously and without the need to prepare. You do not need to deliberate about which notes or harmonies best express a specific meaning because you know intuitively. Also known as "improvisation," this is true fluency.
​
VII. Creation
Once you reach this level, you are able to create spontaneously on the level of the large-scale work. Beyond communicating simple ideas or emotions, you are crafting a story, a journey for your audience to experience. True artistry requires something more than linguistic fluency - it calls for an overarching design, a message, a weaving of themes on multiple levels simultaneously. You are fluent enough at communication that you do not need to consciously think of the specific notes or sounds you are using; rather, you are able to fully engage with the underlying forms and patterns.
​
___
​
My goal as a music educator is to meet you at your current level of musical proficiency and work with you to reach the highest level of fluency possible. I believe that increasing our capacity for expression, whether through music or other means, is one of the most powerful ways to actualize our unique potential.