How To Avoid the 5 Most Common Mistakes of Learning Dounis

Mastery of the Dounis principles has huge benefits for your playing but there are many ways to misunderstand him.  So to speed up your mastery here are... 

The 5 most common mistakes and how to avoid them. 

1) Coming for a quick fix.

Many people came to Dounis with a specific problem and he would fix it.  They were thrilled by that, but they didn’t stay long enough to see the full scope of his teaching.  Spend enough time to master all the basics. 
 

2) Not realizing that your solutions will be unique.

Dounis instructions were different for each individual because they had different weaknesses. .  Often students would have success, get excited, tell others what Dounis had said and that would create conflicting reports. Therefore, just do what strengthens your own weaknesses.
 

3) Thinking something is too simple to work.  

Sometimes when you grapple with a problem for a long time and a simple solution is presented, subconsciously you think, “It can’t be that easy!”  You have to see there is a big emotional investment in a way that isn’t working. So take a chance, because often the great solutions are simple.
 

4) Not examining what you have been taught and whether it works or not.

Even if you are a prodigy, it doesn’t mean you know what you are doing.  When a prodigy becomes a teacher, they say what they were told, even though it isn’t what they are doing.  So it is to important to examine if what you have been taught really works! 
 

5) Assuming you understand it, before you can do it.

When presenting the Dounis principles some people say, “That is exactly what my teacher taught me.”  Upon closer examination, you find it isn’t true. They haven’t tested their assumptions. If you were a prodigy then you have to test your assumptions with your students.  If you were not a prodigy, then wait until you can do it yourself.

 
Any one of the 5 most common pitfalls can build extra time into the learning process.  If you avoid them, you will speed up your mastery of the Dounis principles.