🧠 Are you trying to skip steps?

Hey music maker!

Hope you're having a good weekend so far.

This week, I made a classic beginner mistake.

My online bass teacher was playing a reggae groove with a lot of creative variations. He mixed ghost notes perfectly with melodic notes to make a very percussive groove. It sounded incredible.

So I tried to copy all of it at once.

And it fell apart immediately. My timing and tone got sloppy. And I was thinking a whole lot when I should’ve been connecting to the music and having fun.

The mistake was trying to skip steps.

So this week I’ve been thinking more about how skills actually build.

I was reminded that you can't learn the advanced version and the basic version at the same time.

Your brain doesn't work that way. You have to strip it back to the simplest version, lock that in, then add layers one at a time.

Foundation-first practice is what I'm calling it.

Here's what it looks like in real time.

When I tried to replicate everything at once, my hands couldn't keep up.

So I stripped it back to one core pattern and practiced using ghost notes in specific spots, playing that same thing over and over again.

This allowed my brain to focus on just getting that in and making it automatic.

Get the foundation automatic first. Add the variations for expression later.

I'm using the same approach on disco grooves.

Earlier this week, I was struggling to play octaves at 120 BPM with a clean tone. My hands couldn't keep up, and the sound was messy.

I don’t have the physical endurance yet.

So I focused on just speed and clean tone at a slower tempo. Playing those octaves steadily and consistently without worrying about anything else.

It only took a day to get comfortable at a slower speed. And now I’m up to 120bpm. But I still need to develop the endurance.

Once I lock that in, I'll focus on alternating between long and short notes. One thing at a time.

I saw this same pattern watching my 6-year-old son build Legos this week.

When he was five, he got his first 9+ age Lego kit. Took him nine months to finish. He needed constant help from his grandfather and me. He'd get frustrated. Make mistakes. And we'd have to undo entire sections and rebuild them from scratch.

Three weeks after finishing that nine-month project, he got another 9+ kit with similar complexity.

He finished it in four days.

During those nine months, he wasn't just working on that one hard kit. He was also building smaller, age-appropriate kits on the side. Each one built his confidence a little more.

I could see the improvement carry over where he'd struggle less with the harder kit after finishing one of the easier ones.

By the time the second 9+ kit came around, he had more confidence and more skill. He only needed help twice to fix two minor errors.

That's it.

Here's what I'm learning to watch for:

When my playing gets messy, when the rhythm starts falling apart, or my hands can't keep up, that's the signal that I’m trying too much at once.

The fix is simple: strip it back and find the simplest version that I can play cleanly.

Lock that in. Then add layers.

A few years ago, I would've just pushed through the fumbling and hoped it would eventually click. Now I catch myself and adjust in the moment.

I see that awareness as growth.

Quick question: Do you catch yourself trying to copy the expert's full version too early? Or do you naturally simplify first?

Hit reply and let me know.