Derek Sivers：我希望刚进伯克利音乐学院我就能知道的6件事
作者：Derek Sivers
译者：Esther 修正:Ponohano

版权声明：本文可以任意转载，转载时请务必保持作者、译者署名的完整性。

编注：这里的译名伯克利(Berklee)是指位于美国东北部大西洋沿岸的波士顿的伯克利音乐学院(Berklee College of Music)，而非美国加州大学伯克利分校(University of California, Berkeley) 。(@fengdingcn thx!)


1. Focus. Disconnect. Do not be distracted.
1. 专注。排除杂念。不被干扰。
My favorite part of the movies is the training sequence, where a young Bruce Wayne, Neo or Kung-Fu Panda goes to a remote location to be trained relentlessly, nonstop, past all breaking points, until they emerge as a master.
电影中我最喜欢的部分就是练功阶段，年轻的Bruce Wayne, Neo或功夫熊猫到遥远的地方，坚持不懈地练习，一路突破，直到成为大师。
The next few years can be your training sequence, if you focus.
如果你专注投入，未来几年可以是你的练功阶段。
Unfortunately you’re not in Siberia. You’re surrounded by distractions.
可惜，你不在西伯利亚。你身边处处都是干扰。
You’re surrounded by cool tempting people, hanging out casually, telling you to relax.
你被酷酷的人所包围，他们充满诱惑，四处游玩，告诉你要放松。
But the casual ones end up having casual talent and merely casual lives.
可这些随意的人才能平平，生活差强人意。
Looking back, my only Berklee classmates that got successful were the ones who were fiercely focused, determined, and undistractable.
回首过去，我那些成功的伯克利同学们都是异常专注、意志坚定、不受任何干扰的人。
While you’re here, presidents will change, the world will change, and the media will try to convince you how important it all is.
你读书的时候，总统会换人，世界在变化，媒体会努力说服你这有多重要。
But it’s not. None of it matters to you now.
其实不然。对你而言，现在它们都不重要。
You are being tested.
你在接受试炼。
Your enemy is distraction.
你的敌人就是干扰。
Stay offline. Shut off your computer. Stay in the shed.
保持离线。关断电脑。闭关修炼。
When you emerge in a few years, you can ask someone what you missed, and you’ll find it can be summed up in a few minutes.
当几年后你复出时，可以问问别人你错过了什么，你会发现这些都可以在几分钟内总结完。
The rest was noise you’ll be proud you avoided.
剩下的不过是噪音，你会很自豪自己避免了这些干扰。
Focus. Disconnect. Do not be distracted.
专注。排除杂念。不被干扰。
This is your #1 most important challenge. If you master focus, you will be in control of your world. If you don’t, it will control you.
这是你第一项最重要的挑战。如果你能掌握自己的注意力，你就能控制自己的世界。否则，世界会控制你。




2. Do not accept their speed limit.
2. 不要接受他人的速度限制。
You don’t get extreme results without extreme actions.
没有超常的行为，就没有超常的结果。
Berklee classes set a pace the average student can keep.
伯克利的班级所设定的节奏，一般学生都可以跟得上。
If you want to be above average, you must push yourself to do more than required.
如果你想高出一般水平，你必须推动自己做超出要求的部分。
There’s a martial arts saying, “When you are not practicing, someone else is. When you meet him, he will win.”
习武之人有个说法：你不练习别人练，一旦较量起来，你必输无疑。
If you are a writer, you should not only write a song a week, but spend twice as long improving it as you do writing it.
如果你是作曲家，你不能一周只写一首歌，而是应该花两倍的时间来改进。
Inspiration is a good start, but it’s the diligence to make every note and every word perfect, that will really set you apart.
有灵感是很好的开始，但让每个音符和每句歌词完善的是勤奋，这才是让你出类拔萃的原因。
Luckily, when I was 17, a few months before starting Berklee, I met a man named Kimo Williams who used to teach at Berklee and convinced me that the standard pace is for chumps.
幸运的是，在进入伯克利几个月前，那时我17岁，我遇到了一位过去在伯克利任教的老师——Kimo Williams，他说服我标准节奏是为傻瓜设置的。
In just 3 intensive lessons, he taught me 3 semesters of Berklee harmony, so on opening day I started in Harmony 4.
仅仅通过3次强化课程，他教了我伯克利3学期的和声课程，所以开学那天，我就从第四学期的和声课程开始。
In one intensive lesson, he taught me the whole semester of Arranging 1.
在一次强化课中，他教会了我整整一学期的编曲课程。
Then I learned I could buy the book for a course I wasn’t enrolled in, and do all the examples myself, without even needing to attend the class. I could approach the department head and take the final exam for full credit. I did this for all the other requirements like Arranging 2, and traditional counterpoint classes.
然后我知道没有报名的课程，我可以把课本买下，自己做练习，甚至都不用去上课。可以直接找到系主任，参加期末考试，拿全学分。所有其他必修课如编曲以及传统的对位课，我都是这么做的。
I graduated Berklee in 2-and-a-half years.
我用了2年半的时间就从伯克利毕业了。
Do not accept their speed limit.
不要接受他们的速度限制。
Blow away expectations.
超出人们的期望。



3. Nobody will teach you anything. You have to teach yourself.
3. 没有人教你任何东西。你必须得自学。
When I first arrived at Berklee, I was disappointed. My teachers weren’t teaching me. I almost dropped out.
当我刚到伯克利时，我很失望。老师不教我。我差点辍学。
I went home to Chicago and got accepted to Northwestern University. Then I realized their music program was more about memorizing the name of Bach’s many children.
我回到芝加哥，被西北大学录取。然后我意识到他们的音乐课不过是强记巴赫以降的诸多名字。
So I came back to Berklee with gusto. I decided to squeeze every bit of knowledge out of this place. Nobody was going to do it for me.
然后，我又满怀热情地回到伯克利。我决定从这里吸收所有的知识。没人为我这么做。
Do not expect the teachers to teach you.
不要期待老师们会教你。
They will present some information to you, but it is entirely 100% up to you to either make the most of it, or waste your time here, and go home and get a normal dumb job.
他们会带给你某些信息，但是否能理解到点上，抑或浪费时间毕业后去做平庸的工作，则完全取决于你自己。
Berklee is like a library.
伯克利像一座图书馆。
Everything you need to know is here for the taking.
你需要知道的所有东西都在这里供你吸收。
It’s the best possible environment for you to master your music.
这可能是你掌握音乐的最佳环境。
But nobody will teach you anything. You have to teach yourself.
但没有人教你任何事情。你必须自学。


4. Learn from your heroes, not only theirs.
4. 向你自己的偶像学习，而不局限于他人的偶像。
When I was here, I wanted to be a great songwriter, among other things.
读书时，我的众多梦想之一是成为伟大的词曲作者。
Berklee’s songwriting courses are amazing! I learned so much about song crafting that made me look at all of my favorite music with a whole new insight, and forever improved my own writing.
伯克利的词曲创作课程真是超赞的！我学习到很多歌曲创作知识，让我用全新眼光诠释我所有的最爱曲目，从而彻底改善了我自己的创作。
But… I remember a lyric writing teacher saying a good lyric needs to use all 5 senses. He’d say, “Don’t just mention your grandmother. Describe the veins on the back of her hands. Don’t just mention a bedroom. Describe the smell of the dust on the curtains and the sound of the creaky stairs.”
不过…….我记得有位歌词创作老师说，好的歌词需要调用所有5种感官。他说，“不要只说你的老奶奶。描写她手背上的青筋。不要只提到卧室。描述窗帘上尘土的气味，还有楼梯吱吱嘎嘎的声音。”
So for years I thought every lyric I wrote was crap unless it described all 5 senses.
多年来，我一直以为除非描述了所有5种感官，否则我写的所有歌词都是垃圾。
Then finally I noticed that my favorite songs by Nirvana or Talking Heads were abstract collages of evocative nonsense.
后来，我终于发现，我最爱的涅盘乐队和Talking Heads乐队的歌词不过是煽情的胡言乱语抽象拼凑。
My favorite glitchy electronic music by Bj?rk is nothing they’d ever teach in a Rock Arranging For Live Performance 1 class.
我最爱的Bj?rk的glitchy电子音乐和摇滚乐现场演出编排课中所教的内容相去甚远。
So I finally realized the one important point I missed while here, that I hope you don’t forget.
所以，我最终意识到自己错过的一个要点，我希望你们都不会忘记。
The teachers are taking their favorite music and using it to teach you techniques.
老师们以自己钟爱的音乐为例，教授你们技巧。
Learn and appreciate those techniques. They’re great.
学习并欣赏这些技巧。它们确实很棒。
But if you only learn the techniques they teach you, you’re only learning their favorite music.
但是，如果你只学习他们教授你的技巧，你不过是在学习他们心爱的音乐。
Never think their heroes are better than yours.
别以外他们的偶像就比你的偶像强。
You’ll hear a lot about the greats, but whatever you love is great, too.
你将听到关于伟人们的很多东西，但不论你喜欢什么，那也是最棒的。
The same way they will break apart a Shania Twain hit song or a classic Charlie Parker solo to teach you the craft inside, you must learn how to break apart your favorite music and analyze it.
他们用同样的方式分解Shania Twain的热门歌曲或者Charlie Parker的经典单曲来给你讲解个中技巧，你必须学习如何分解分析自己最爱的音乐。
I finally analyzed my favorite Nirvana and Talking Heads lyrics. Finally analyzed the glitches and growls in Bj?rk’s music.
我终于分析了我最爱的涅盘和Talking Heads歌词。终于分析了Bj?rk音乐中的glitches和growls。
Distilled their ingredients for my own re-use.
然后将他们的元素为我所用。
Learn from your heroes, not only theirs.
向你自己的偶像学习，而不局限于别人的偶像。


5. Don’t get stuck in the past.
5. 不要沉浸在过去。
While at Berklee, I felt I had to learn Donna Lee, the old bebop jazz standard, to be a good musician.
在伯克利时，我觉得我必须学习比博普（一种节奏复杂的爵士乐）的旧标准Donna Lee，才能成为了不起的音乐人。
Got a great gig going to Japan for a month with Victor Bailey on bass.
我有机会随乐队去日本演出一个月，Victor Bailey是贝司手。
Here’s one of the best bassists ever, who’s played with Wayne Shorter, Joe Zawinul, Sonny Rollins, Sting, and more.
他可是有史以来最好的贝司手之一，和Wayne Shorter, Joe Zawinul, Sonny Rollins, Sting等等人都合作过。
He heard me playing Donna Lee a bit, and said, “Man – jazz was all about inventing something new. For a musician 50 years later to be stuck in the 1950s would be like a 1950s musician being stuck in the 1900s. There’s nothing cool about that.”
他听我演奏了一点Donna Lee，然后说，“兄弟——爵士玩的都是创新。50年后的音乐人沉浸在1950年代的作品就好像1950年代的音乐人陷于1900年代一
样。一点也不酷。”
A couple weeks later I was at the piano quietly working on one of my own songs, and for the first time he said, “Hey – wow – what is that? That’s great, man. Can you show me?”
几周后， 我坐在钢琴旁，悄悄地演奏我自己的一首曲子，他说，“嗨——哗——这是什么？伙计，这个不错啊。你给我演奏一遍，行吗？”
Innovation is needed more than imitation.
创新远比模仿更重要。
Don’t get stuck in the past.
不要沉浸在过去。


6. When done, be valuable.
6. 你的工作要有价值。
While you’re here, stay locked in the shed.
学习时，要避免受到干扰。
Enjoy this wonderful isolation, with no responsibility but to improve yourself.
享受这种美妙的孤立，没有责任，只需自我完善。
But when you leave here, head to the business aisle of the bookstore and start reading a book a week about entrepreneurial things like marketing.
但当你离开这里时，去书店看看商务类书籍，就创业类的书籍例如市场读上一周。
Never underestimate the importance of making money making music.
不要低估用音乐赚钱的重要性。
Let go of any weird taboos you have about it.
让那些稀奇古怪的禁忌都消失吧。
Money is nothing more than neutral proof that you’re adding value to people’s lives.
钱不过是一个中性的证据，表明你给人们的生活增加了价值。
Making sure you’re making money is just a way of making sure you’re doing something of value to others.
确保你在赚钱，不过是确保你为其他人增添了价值的一种方式而已。
Remember that this usually comes from doing the things that most people don’t do.
记住这通常来自做大多数人不做的事情。
For example : how much does the world pay people to play video games? Nothing, because everyone does it.
比如：玩游戏的人能得到多少钱？没有，因为人人都会。
How much does the world pay people to make video games? A ton, because very few can do it, and lots of people want it.
发明游戏的人能得到多少钱？很多很多，因为发明游戏的人微乎其微，而又有那么多人想玩。
Be one of the few that is clever enough to make money making music instead of pretending it doesn’t matter.
成为用音乐赚钱的少数聪明人，别假装那无所谓。
Be one of the few that has the guts to do something shocking.
成为有勇气作出惊天动地的事情的少数人。
Be one of the few that takes your lessons here as a starting point, and pushes yourself to do more with what you learn.
成为以自己在这里所学的东西为起点然后超越的少数人。
Be one of the few that knows how to help yourself, instead of expecting for others to do it for you.
成为知道如何自助而不是期待其他人帮助的少数人。
Be one of the few that does much more than is required.
成为付出超过需要的少数人。
And most importantly, be one of the few that stays in the shed to practice, while everyone else is surfing the net, flirting on MySpace, and watching TV.
最重要的，当所有其他人都在上网、在MySpace泡妞、看电视时，你能成为躲在幕后练习的少数人。