Posted by Nacho on April 7, 2011
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Today, my good friend Ignacio Jordi is visiting this blog, bringing with him his very interesting thoughts that always makes us think and gives us an opportunity to know more about ourselves. If you haven’t visited Nacho at his blog Zerebria, please take some time and stop by to read his timeless and very educative posts.
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Casiotone nostalgia, or the way we learn
Hello everybody, and thank you once again Raul for letting me show up at your wonderful blog; I’m honored of being a guest here in Alien Ghost, for sure one of the friendliest aliens on this side of the galaxy! 
My article today is about learning. I hope you find it enjoyable.
Some of you may remember it; in my country it got to be sort of a symbol of the 80′s, one of those many objects from that decade which have become a dear memory. The Casiotone PT-1 was not longer than a laptop screen, its keys were so tiny that they were almost square, and it had a very recognizable rhythm that was sort of its anthem (too-kee-too-kee-too-kee-too-too-too-kee-too-kee-too-kee…)
That cute and comic electric keyboard was my first one, the instrument that introduced me, and many people in my generation, to the delights of playing music.
But the Casiotone PT-1 had one more feature, the one I want to focus on: it was monochannelled. In other words, it only allowed you to play one note at a time; no sound appeared when you pressed a second key unless you released the former first.
Now you might say it was a limitation rather than a feature, but try and see it through the eyes of a kid who is approaching for the first time the world of music, of making music. Fascinated, I practiced every catchy tune I could think of, in the mood of someone who disassembles a toy to see what’s inside.
Obviously, you need no more than one hand to play a single note, so I could help myself with the other hand when I had to play something that was fast or tricky, and the result was always gratifying. I used to practice over and over until the notes came perfect. The only variation factor I was allowed was the four different instrument sounds to play with.
I did not know it at the time, but it turned out to be a perfectly natural introduction to music. A succession of single notes, one at a time, is what in musical theory is called a melody. And melody is the skeleton of any musical education, the first thing that humans tried out when they intended to make pretty sounds.
So the limitation imposed by the instrument kindly forced me to train myself in the basics of music; all my attention was focused on the melody, and the quality of sound. There was nothing else to care for.
That way, when, later on, I moved to a new, more potent keyboard, which allowed simultaneous channels (I think they were four), I was ready for the new challenge ahead: simultaneity of notes. Harmony. My next step, then, was fleshing out the melodies I had learned; to my surprise, I discovered that any song allowed a lot of possible ‘dressings’, the choice was not limited to finding a single ‘right one’. My research took me to new stages, to more complex ‘toys’, as I started to try out different chords and series…
Learning is the process of practicing an ability under controlled circumstances. The first surfing lesson is taken on land. The skilled spokesman records himself at home, with no people round, to see how he looks and sounds. The child gets familiar with the bike using small supporting wheels before heading for the challenge of balance on only two…Sometimes I wonder if I would have learned music the way I did if my first keyboard had been one of those high-tech monsters around in our days. I’m no specialist, maybe there are still monochanelled beauties out there, but the mainstream seems to be dominated by keyboards with zillions of instruments and virtually no channel limitation, where pressing the demo button bursts into a Sting song or a Wagner, loud as hell.
Maybe I would have learned just the same, but I would have had to figure out the ‘chunks’, the limitations by myself. So my conclusions are: 1) learning is one of those fields in which less is more, and 2) when trying to help someone learn, removing options is not imposing a handicap; it is being considerate.
Can you think of other examples of learning under controlled circumstances? Do you impose yourself limitations to help you learn something? Ever had a Casiotone PT-1?
Nacho Jordi is a psychologist and translator who lives in Madrid (Spain). He is the author of the Zerebria blog, where he offers tips and hints for personal development and conscious living, besides all kind of contemporary musings.
Posted by Raul on April 4, 2011
So tired, so sleepy! She couldn’t keep up for the long term ahead and instead simply felt asleep over the tasks that had to be completed. Tomorrow will be another day, she said to herself; tomorrow everything will look different and from a new perspective, when better rested.
The scent of the words printed below involved her, while she enjoyed her dreams of peaceful rest and final abandonment. Surrounded by the knowledge, the ideas and the projections that could be extracted from the scent, she rested completely unaware of the changes already happening inside her head.
All she read, all she imagined, all she thought, everything was already inside her head, moving, forming new shapes out of the original created at the time of insertion. Every new knowledge that found home in her brain was morphing into a new concept, at the time it found connection with whatever knowledge, thought or idea was to be found already there.
Dreams!
She rested, she dreamed, then she grew up a little more. Good night little one! Have a pleasant rest and a wonderful awakening! You’ll be a little bit different tomorrow!
Raul
Posted by Raul on March 31, 2011
They used to be all around, flying aimlessly, close to each other, silently existing for no reason at all. They were there, creating that strange feeling that seems to be proper of just once in a lifetime.
Sounds of a voice, a gesture, maybe a silly look of stranger eyes that were to be known little by little as time went by; they were born out of those and remained there for a short lived life.
So colorful! So vibrant! So alive! Butterflies that changed the elements around, the organization of things, the perception of life; just to leave behind spider webs as a memorial reminder of what used to be, and that now concentrate in catching the dust of time.
Their brief life reminding us all of the fragility of a moment in time: Dead Butterflies!
Raul
(Projections)
Posted by Raul on March 28, 2011
They didn’t see the world together. They didn’t accomplish anything at all. They just happened to find each other in a day like any, and without even saying a word things seemed to click.
There was no time involved in their relationship, so maybe it couldn’t even be called as such; just a brief moment in time where they happened to be at the same place.
It was one of those things that cannot be explained…they were there, occupying the same place, without any specific activity or conversation. They didn’t talk, they didn’t touch, they didn’t look at each other’s eyes. They were just standing there, at the same place, at the same time.
Then the feelings of the surroundings suddenly changed. Like an abrupt temperature fluctuation or the appearance of a warm breeze. They felt it; they noticed something different around them, involving them.
Although nothing seemed to change in the outside around them, a warm, peaceful feeling inside took home in them both. The senses of loneliness they have been holding for a long time suddenly disappear. The sadness that makes part of a grey life without any special motivation was nowhere to be found.
Only a feeling of peace and satisfaction became their essence…happiness!
A peaceful irradiation from each one…that was created from the peaceful irradiation that came from the other…that was generated by the peaceful irradiation from the first: Automated self feeding of a circular feeding…complete autonomy from the external world!
It lasted for just a couple of seconds. After the initial feeling and the realization they were perceiving each other, without self and mutual intention, they simply walked away and on to resume their daily lives.
Nothing really changed afterwards. The same routine, the same feelings and the same kind of grey life, except now they knew they were more than independent, isolated beings. Now they knew they weren’t alone because they felt the connection with another being, even if they never completed any sort of communication.
From that day they knew…someone, somewhere, is there…and they are not alone!
Raul
Posted by Raul on March 24, 2011
While the image is just a reflection, the entity standing there could be considered the separation of itself from the body. There’s no physical existence in the image in the mirror, yet we can see it standing there, looking back to us.
Any intention, thought or feeling that makes us slightly twitch our face will be replicated by the image in the mirror, so we can see it is our intentions, thoughts and feelings that are also there, being part of the image.
A perfect copy of the physical body without becoming physically existent!
Yet, that perfect copy of a body without a body, although capable of showing physical behavior, doesn’t have any physical possibilities. We are ourselves in the image in the mirror, yet, while being there, we exist without a physical body for a moment.
What if we take the physical body that creates the image in the mirror and leave just the image as the true existence of the being? Wouldn’t we be capable of thoughts and feelings, without the possibility of physical sensations? No pain, no hunger, no sicknesses, never getting old. A permanent representation of a non-existent physical shape.
When we see ourselves in a mirror, we could consider the image standing there as the separation of the entity we are, from the body where we are contained.
How will we use the presented possibility then? Will we consider the option of giving a bigger validation to thoughts and feelings rather than physical sensations? And with it, the need of dedicating time to the feeding of the image in the mirror rather than feeding the physical body that creates the image?
Just a crazy thought to get you a little confused
Raul
