Coding and Music: A Tale of Learning New Things

Creating music and creating OSS is a surprisingly similar experience! We’ll discuss the common characteristics of learning an instrument and learning to code. What can hinder our progress? What might work to our advantage? What can we as a community do to help each other? Also, live trumpet playing!

Six years ago I took up the trumpet. I hadn’t played any instruments before that. It began with a simple wish whilst listening to Louis Armstrong. I had no idea what to expect. It was a difficult and slow progress that required endless hours of practice, without any immediate results. Around the same time I also started learning to code with a wish of becoming a developer. Similarly, it was also complex, took hours and hours in front of the computer, and was moving slowly. Frustration and self-doubt would often get the best of me and hampered the little progress I was making.

On the other hand, the two experiences were similar enough that I could take a lesson I had learned in one field and use it in the other. The trumpet taught me that putting in the hours was crucial and there was no way around it. Coding showed me how much easier a challenge is when I just trust I am up to it. Trumpet showed me that we never stop learning. Coding taught me to ask questions. Trumpet showed me the importance of a good mentor. Coding encouraged me to take on new challenges. Trumpet showed me the importance of being part of the community.

All of these lessons translated (and they still do) in both ways.

Eventually, it all resulted in what I had only dared to hope for: joining a band and working as a developer.

In this talk I’ll share the details of this journey with you. What it took to get to where I am today and what you can learn from that. You’ll learn about the common characteristics of learning an instrument and learning to code - what can hinder our progress and what are some of the things that work in our advantage. You will find out how creating music and creating OSS is related and what we can learn from that. And as a bonus, you’ll get to hear me play trumpet, learn about some trumpet facts, and what’s it like to take up an instrument as an adult.

I’ve given this talk at a Python meetup, and it was very well received. I’ve also given other talks/led tutorials at different DjangoCons, and local conferences and meetups.