Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

Ditto for me.... you have to read this book

#1

Several people have commented on this book and I’m throwing in my two cents worth.

‘The Laws of Brainjo - the Art and Science of Molding a Musical Mind’ by Dr. Josh Turknett

First, let me say this… in my entire life I’ve probably read less than five non-fiction books cover-to-cover. I finished this one today. It should be required reading for anyone who wants to learn to play any type of instrument!

The author is a neurologist and a banjo player (clawhammer, but I’m not holding that against him). The book discusses the science behind learning to play an instrument; how to learn effectively and efficiently. THIS ISN’T JUST FOR BANJO… it’s for any instrument.

It’s a fascinating book. Here are some of the takeaways for me, not in any particular order:

  • You are never too old to learn to play an instrument (or too dumb).
  • How to accelerate your learning up to 10 times faster.
  • How to practice efficiently.
  • That learning to play an instrument or learning a new language is the best way to guard your brain against dementia.
  • How to use tablature to LEARN a song but not become dependent upon tablature.
  • How to know what to practice and what not to practice.
  • When to practice and for how long to practice.
  • How to overcome stage fright.
  • How to become a better player through practicing visualization.
  • Etc., etc., etc.

    It’s only $13 at Amazon. Well worth the price even if you use only one of the tips in the book.


    brainjo
    brainjo.jpg481×640 60.8 KB
16 Likes
#2

I agree! This is a great read. I have read through the book once and have started a second time.

3 Likes
#3

OK, you talked me into it. I will order it today.
BTW- When’s the last time you wrote a book report?:grin::grin::grin::+1:

4 Likes
#4

@BanJoe… MANY, MANY years ago! :slight_smile:

2 Likes
#5

The deed is done, but by the time I paid for shipping & taxes it costs $20.50.
Why am I not surprised?

2 Likes
#6

@BanJoe… Bummer. Do you not have Amazon Prime? I didn’t have to pay shipping.

2 Likes
#7

I order so little from Amazon that Prime is not any value for me. I think I’ve only ordered 4 times in the past year, and they were all under $50.
Most of my online spending is with the General Store. It has the stuff the local music store does not carry.

5 Likes
#8

Amazon Prime is NOT FREE you pay a monthly subscription whether you use the service or not. I fell for the FREE DELIVERY TRIAL before I discovered they were debiting my account after the trial when I hadn’t made any new purchases. I quickly cancelled my subscription and use eBay instead.

4 Likes
#9

@Archie… I think that we pay $99 year for Prime, which includes free shipping and Amazon Prime Video. We buy a lot from there so for us it’s a good deal.

4 Likes
#10

Hi @ChrisWms That’s fine if you use it a lot. I don’t make that many online purchases and I just wanted to highlight the fact that the service isn’t free as Amazon would have you believe.

4 Likes
#11

@ChrisWms
I ordered Joshes book several months ago simply because my wife has dementia and I use some of his teaching to help my wife through her dementia it is one disease I would not wish on my worst enemy.

9 Likes
#12

@Don_Smith I am so sorry to hear that, will be praying for you and your family.

8 Likes
#13

@BanjoBen
thank you we have been dealing with it since 2012 and it keeps getting worse and worse she was doing ok up until April 1st 2019 and then she was hit by a hit and run driver while taking a walk and it literally increased her dementia 10 fold over night and completely changed our lives, but God was watching over her that fateful day because it could have turned out a whole lot worse she has good days and others are not so good but we keep our heads up and try to smile everyday.

One thing I will say about Joshes book is his techniques do work as I have actually used them to kind of teach my wife how to play amazing grace on a banjo and mandolin she doesn’t play them the best but she has never played any kind of an instrument ever it keeps her brain thinking and keeps her brain from deceiving her which is what dementia does and I never looked at it that way until her physical therapist said that to her when she told him she was stupid he told her it had nothing to do with being stupid that her brain was just deceiving her and he was correct

12 Likes
#14

@Don_Smith I’m glad to hear that the book is helping her. She and God can do this!

6 Likes
#15

Thanks for the recommendation. Purchased.

James

3 Likes
#16

Hey Don, let it not weary you, lay it upon Jesus! God is not a man to change, and he delivers exactly as he promised. If you want to learn a bit a more to have the faith to receive the deliverance, please message me.

6 Likes
#17

OK, I bought the book, I read the book & I enjoyed the book. So here are my observations -

90% of what’s in the book is on Banjo Ben’s site, but with different words. Ben does not call them “laws,” but the meaning is the same.
For example the book says “Learn to play like the masters.”
Ben says “Have fun.”

The book says “learn small bits at a time.”
Ben says “Start small & learn how to build-a-break.”

The book says “Create new neural pathways.”
Ben says “Retrain your brain.”

The book says “Play slow to create neural pathways so you can increase your playing speed.”
Ben says “Play slow to go fast.”

While I truly enjoy the book & have gleaned some good information from it, IMHO it suffers from “the tyranny of experts.” The guy who wrote it is a neurologist, so it’s all about brain cells. If it was written by a chiropractor, I’m sure it would be filled with good ideas of how banjo playing keeps your muscles loose and relieves spinal compression, so long as you start slow & build up to speed.
If it was written by a dentist, it would probably say you can relieve tension & stop grinding you teeth by playing banjo, once you get past the “banjo face” and just have fun.
We all bring our own biases to our life, and so this brings the neurologist bias.
But the message seems to be consistent from every source. First, have fun. Second, it will take time. Third, don’t beat yourself up if you are not progressing as fast as you would like.
Overall, it’s a pretty good book with some pretty good ideas in it, but in the end they are not much different from what Ben’s been telling us in different words.

One thing I did find odd was the fact the author is also President of Physicians for Ancestral Health. (Kinda reminds me of holding a fund raiser for the unfortunate flood-ravaged victims of Atlantis. Oh! The poor children!)
So I looked it up and it’s not as quackery as it sounds. They are not going to cure your great-great-great-great grandfather of consumption.

8 Likes
#18

Hey @BanJoe- really appreciate your review. I’ve read the book myself. “Tyranny of the experts” is a thought provoking phrase that I’ve not heard before but can appreciate. The biggest takeaway for me was the benefit of practicing with a metronome. As a 57 year old who’s trying to jumpstart my guitar playing skills, I liked the encouragement the book offered that it’s never too late to acquire new skills.

8 Likes
#19

The term has been a been around for a while. It’s applied to economics, religion, social justice, public education, medicine and television. It’s a rather negative term, but I think it has merit. So often experts are experts because their focus is so sharp…and often very narrow.
There are multiple books by this title that have been published over the decades.
While they deal with different areas of human endeavor, they all tend to follow the same pattern:
a) We have a problem.
b) Experts suggest a solution.
c) We apply the solution.
d) The situation does not change or gets worse.
e) We ask the experts “What went wrong?”
f) The experts supply a new solution.
g) Nothing changes or things get worse.
h) We seek out new experts who have the solution.
i) Things stay the same or get worse.

I’m sure you will have no problem identifying areas where the experts have simply made things worse.

3 Likes
#20

I’m sure you will have no problem identifying areas where the experts have simply made things worse.
[/quote]

I see what you did there. :wink:

2 Likes