Human vs YouTube

We are now firmly planted into a technological world. For better or worse. Better because we each have at least 50 friends on Facebook. Worse because we are more and more lonely.

Talking to someone that holds a phone has become a challenge. There will be a moment when the Phone God will beep and ask for your attention or hers. No two ways about it. And even without the beep, it is very possible that, around the corner of a sentence, you or your companion will “check something quickly” on their device. “No, but look, will be the usual defense, I was just looking at the weather for the week since we were lamenting about the harshness of the winter.

Hey, I’m not complaining: I do it all the time.

So, we are left with YouTube.

What am I talking about?

The digital world. At our finger tip. Everything immediately available. Meaning teachers have to compete with YouTube. Millions of videos that explains every aspect of drumming. With the inevitable next sentence: the number of students are declining, real teachers do not matter anymore.

Not quite.

I do not compete with YouTube. I do not compete with anyone, as a matter of fact. I rely on the human approach to teach. I have someone in flesh and bones, emotions and feelings in front of me, that’s who I will be helping along to understand and enjoy music. It is not a particularly exceptional situation and it doesn’t require any specific skill set: teachers since the dawn of time have been doing precisely that. And, O surprise! my students love it! They come to see Sol to learn from him the mysteries of drums or piano.

So, now you know what I think about the game of “Human vs YouTube”. I never think about it. I just do my job.