Strolling down a street these days, you will be bombarded with a barrage of ads which sell crash courses. One ad rants, “Come and join in our one-week English language course. Fluent English in 7 days, or your money back!” There are ads for computer skills, piano lessons, and the like.

In my verdant days, crash courses appealed to me too. I wished I could garner a new skill under my belt overnight. Later on, my personal experiences taught me to do things otherwise.

Today I can play three musical instruments, the piano, erhu and hulusi. I am most confident with the piano. Although I can do erhu and hulusi, my skills with them are not on the same par with my proficiency in the piano.

My first piano lesson started when I was 5. At first, I practised the five basic notes over and over again. It took me a long time. Then step by step I started to tackle world classics. My formal piano lessons did not stop until I was 13 years old.

Now I do not practise the piano regularly, but when I take up a new piece, I can perform it effortlessly right away on it. I believe that is because piano skills have sunk in and become part of my very person.

My experience with erhu is different. I began erhu lessons about three years ago, but they went on and off for less than two years. My erhu coach thought I had had some experience with the piano, so he had me take on a very difficult erhu piece titled Racing Horses only three months after I started my lessons. It was a catastrophe! In retrospect, I realise that was a very stupid thing to do for a fledging like me. Now I can play the piece Racing Horses more or less, but I do not feel I have the ability to do a new piece on erhu. I haven’t mastered the basics of erhu skills. I did not spend the time it would have taken for the skills to internalise themselves.

My story with hulusi is similar. I can do a short piece on it mechanically, but that is all.

There are no shortcuts to mastering a skill. Crash courses are to fool laymen. The essence of a new skill cannot be grasped instantly. It just takes time to sink in. Be patient.