[purehitter]

Most people learn to play the piano by taking lessons. They learn in segments. They learn what each hand does. They learn by a systematic procedure, in most cases. They learn to read music.

At first they play little scales and exercises, then gradually move up to more advanced things. Eventually they can play music. In the end, many can play with little conscious thought. They just FEEL IT.

There are a FEW gifted people, however, that play piano BY EAR. They often can't read music. They had no formal training, or very little. But, they play beautifully.

I think GOLF can be similar. Many people seem to fear going into detail in learning golf. They don't want to learn in segments, or learn how to READ MUSIC. They want to just play golf BY EAR.

There are a few gifted people that can do this. They can play golf BY EAR. They usually can't explain how they do it, at least not very well. But, they can sure do it.

The same result, however, can be achieved by the golfer that learns to READ MUSIC, and learns in SEGMENTS. If he is taught well, and practices well, he can end up in the same place as the golfer that PLAYS BY EAR. He, however, can usually explain in some detail how he does it. After some TIME, he doesn't really nead to THINK much about how he does it, but he knows how he does it. He CAN... PLAY BY FEEL, WITH LITTLE THOUGHT OF HOW HE DOES IT.

I have studied from one of the greatest Jazz piano teachers of all time, Dick Grove and attended his private school. I studied the guitar and was a studio guitar player with over 1000 paid sessions. Reading music does not make a great player but just a player. Most of the great players do not read music as music is just written. The feel and style of the music played by a great player makes it great. Great players play by ear and feel. Great golfers play by feel and many do not have a clue what they are doing. Dick Grove use to tell me that in music every song was a 2-5-1 and he was right but to figure that out is not the key to a great player. Having an ear and feel for music is. Feel is the key in music and golf and it does not matter if you read music or know what you are doing in the golf swing to be a great player. Just a thought?