How Victor Wooten Understands and Teaches Music

Victor discusses the flaws of the way in which music is traditionally taught and tells stories of how he learned to play with his brothers.

Full episode can be found here:

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[ogulcanyolcu]

I love one of his quotes, he said "You don't use music theory to make music, you use it when you're stuck" He's a treasure

[bigcladwolfdetecting]

Comparing it to babies learning to talk is brilliant 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[buddytheweasel]

He had me at "I can't talk to the baby until it learns the alphabet." Genius

[sonicmayhym]

just let em play..no truer words...my 5 year old has finally decided to take an interest in my guitars..he messes with them all the time...so i picked one out and told him he could play with any time he wanted...i never showed him anything..he has seen me so many times playing..so he knew how to put it in his lap and pretty much how to hold it and instead of just jumping right in and trying to show him a bunch of things that would more than likely ended up with him loosing attention and being distracted from being in his little moment...i just let him go..and watched and smiled..i will hear him in the back bedroom..just going to town and singing along...and of course what he is playing is not perfectly structured and often makes no sense to our ears..but he is finding his own way and i have slowly but surely started to show him things here and there and he has figured out the mechanics of it and been doing the one note thing pretty dam consistently.he comes and shows me the songs he comes up with..it as at this point that i know he is comfortable with the guitar..he is finding his way on his own and is open to show me his songs and progress...now is when i start to teach him..been showing him things..but step buy step..one thing at a time..i give him a little spark and then let him go with it.it is amazing and soul lifting to watch this process and he has even moved on to his sisters keyboard and has started to explore that....world of respect for victors words of wisdom..words of truth..just let em play.thanks for sharing this..

[michaelkartman]

“You talk for years before you learn how to read and write.” This man is a treasure. Absolutely one of musics best teachers, he reduces everything down into something so simple and eloquent.

[glitchVer]

This man is like a musical jedi. Having a deep fundamental understanding of the musical philosophy.

[JamBear]

I almost cried when I heard this. I have felt like such a loser for so long because at 34 I am just learning how to read sheet music despite playing different instruments my whole life. This really invigorated my spirit - thanks so much Victor.

[alecrisser]

Music theory is great for understanding what you're doing once you've already done something. Sometimes a little theory can help you get started, but you usually need to get started before you understand the theory.

[bluegender]

Wow.... this applies not only to music but to art education in general!

[christopbutto]

I've heard him also talk about how adults change their language to match the baby. He says when a baby or toddler calls a blanket a "binkie, " we don't say, "You're wrong! It's a blanket!" Instead, we start calling it a binkie as well.

[grahamalexanderbassuk]

Victor is extraordinary, not just as a bass player but as a teacher and a person hes like a guru

[ivanmicallef]

Victor Wooten is a genius, the way he plays, the way he speaks . The way he takes life

[terrencehall]

Great bassist, musician most of all a very good person...

[BassTromBen]

I love this concept. I played by ear for many years, before I started figuring out the written stuff. I slipped through the cracks a bit, and some people putties me for it, but my ears and musical sense developed much faster, because I was just immersed in trying to figure out how to make my sound and notes fit into what I heard. I also spend hours and hours, just trying to pick out melodies and harmonies by ear. The reading came later, and was a little slow, but I got there, and can’t imagine doing it another way. Getting to really understand how you and your instrument sound before you’re married to the written note, is a freeing experience, and it allows you to play more fearlessly. If you ask some people just to play you something, they freeze. “No music? I don’t really know any songs....” That’s not the case when you really develop the connection to your instrument. Even without a tune, I can just come up with something I’m me head, and play pretty much exactly what I envisioned. It’s something that I wish more young musicians could spend time doing. Just sit down and try to figure out how to play your favorite video game or cartoon theme songs, or play along with the radio. Maybe try to pick out the melody, or just come up with some fun complementary backgrounds. That’s when you start to really feel the magic that music can provide.

[danilobriz]

extremely educational
these 5 minutes can change your musical life.

[tiagobordin]

I always felt stuck because I didn't know something or thought it was wrong. Not only in music, but in life. Even in stuff where people use creativity, I always tried to follow the rules. Skateboard, football, music, programming, drawing. I could have done so much if I only did the "wrong" stuff. Thanks for the lesson, LEGEND!

[MrLukasPetersen]

I so like this approach to teaching but I think there is an element of age at play as well. When a 30yr old wants to learn a new language they don’t just listen to the language(maybe they should) but they go right into the grammar and a lot of them learns faster that way, simply because their mind is not that of a small kid, but they’re adults.

I’ve found that a lot of students with specific personalities really wants to know what is considered “right” or else they don’t feel confident playing.

[kopciowaty]

I don't know why but I'm in tears. What a wonderful man.

[jaregg]

Victor is the man! He taught me how to bend harmonics in about 30 seconds!

[judahroused]

Victor is real about this concept because in the 90's I was in his presence along with my cousin hanging out after his gig. We was sitting around in a friend's studio with our Bass jamming I asked Victor a question. I said Victor how do you walk bass lines and he said ( I will never forget ) what do you do if your baby is learning to walk and fall down fuss at them or pick up them and say keep going lol.