Are you falling into the learning trap?

bear trap with a YouTube logo as bait

One of the artists I’m working with right now in the 1:1 Music Production Coaching has an incredible work ethic, but he fell into a very common trap that was slowing down his progress.

A trap I myself fell into before.

He wants to get better at making music and is putting in the time and effort, despite living a busy life.

In our session last week, he was fired up and motivated to learn. He told me he’s planning to dedicate an hour every day to watching music production tutorials.

That sounded like a great idea at first.

Learning about specific things he wants to improve on, every single day, sounds like a solid plan.

And while it shows impressive dedication and ambition, the reality is that his efforts were focused on the wrong thing.

The intention was pure: “I want to get better at making music, so I’ll keep learning new things about making music.”

So he wanted to block out time and show up every day to do that.

But watching tutorials is not actually making music.

Imagine trying to get better at painting but instead of actually doing it you spend most of your time watching other people paint. Sounds a bit silly, right?

And yet, that’s the trap many of us fall into. I’ve done it too.

It’s easy to put pressure on ourselves, and suddenly the act of actually making music starts to feel intimidating...

It takes brainpower. It takes energy. Maybe starting a new project feels like a lot. Maybe finishing a track feels overwhelming. Maybe you’re worried you won’t have the creative fuel. Or maybe you’re putting too much pressure on yourself to make something better than the last one, and that pressure paralyses you.

But the truth is, the only way to get better at making music is to make more music.

Tutorials can be helpful when they’re solving a specific issue you’re facing in the moment.

If you’re stuck with your low-end, struggling with sound design or unsure about your mixdown, then watching a masterclass on that topic can be useful to give you the steps you need to follow next.

But the real learning starts when you put those ideas into practice.

It’s only when you open a new project and start using those techniques that you actually develop as an artist.

It’s tempting to keep watching tutorials, browsing sample packs or buying new plugins, thinking that’s the way to push your skills and music to the next level.

Those things are exciting. They're easy. And they feel like progress.

But unless you’re actually making music (starting and finishing full tracks) you’re missing the most important part of learning.

A good rule of thumb is this: spend 80% of your time making music, and only 20% learning new things.

If you watch a tutorial or masterclass, you should spend at least a few sessions deliberately putting that knowledge into action. If you don’t, you might as well have not learned it in the first place.

There’s a story in the book Atomic Habits that perfectly illustrates this. It’s about a pottery class that was split into two groups.

One group was told they’d be graded on quantity (the more pots they made, the better).

The other group was told they’d be graded on quality (they just had to make one perfect pot).

By the end of the course, the highest quality pots didn’t come from the group focused on making the perfect pot. They came from the group focused on making the most.

Why?

Because the “quantity” group was doing the work. They were experimenting, failing, adjusting, and improving with every attempt.

The “quality” group was stuck theorising, planning, and second-guessing.

This works because:

• Repetition and iteration builds skill. Every pot (or track) is a lesson.
  

• The feedback loop is faster. You learn what works by actually doing it.
  

• Perfectionism kills progress. Trying to get something perfect often leads to getting stuck.
  

• Creativity emerges through volume and practice. The more you make, the more you discover.
  

As an artist, the same principle applies.

The more you fuck around, the more you find out.

Whether you’re producing, mixing, designing sounds or arranging: the fastest way to get better is to do more of it.

But don’t just mindlessly repeat. Instead, iterate with intention.

Every time you make something, tweak it, learn from it and strengthen your decision-making muscle.

Repeating the exact same thing in the exact same way is not improving.

Improvement happens when you do the work consistently and make small, deliberate changes along the way.

In Atomic Habits, there's a powerful stat that stuck with me:

Improving just 1% every day for a year makes you 37.78 times better than when you started.

So stop overthinking the next track.

Make it. Then make another one that’s 1% better.

Consistent practice with intention is how you develop quality.

Now go make some music.

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Big love

Eryk Kabay

Whenever you're ready, here are 3 ways I can help you make better music:

1. Watch my techno production masterclasses. Learn beyond the surface-level ‘how-to’ and get a deeper understanding of the 'why' and 'when' to make better decisions in all your future tracks. View the masterclasses here.

   
   

2. Join my 1:1 music production coaching. Resolve overwhelm and confusion and become a more creative and authentic artist. Learn how to make professionally sounding music that's uniquely yours. Find out more and apply here.​

   
   

3. Get your music mastered, mixed or get feedback. ​Is your music nearly finished? I will help you make it sound the best it can and get it ready to release into the world. Find out more about my music services.