Question #1: Musician?
Friday, February 27th, 2009
As far as I can tell, everybody loves music. No matter who you are or where you’re from, there’s always some kind of music that’ll get you. And whether it’s AC/DC or Willie Nelson or J.S.Bach doesn’t matter, when the music grabs you it’s always the same. Toe tapping, cobra-like swaying, intensely zoned out facial expressions, air guitar, dancing, conducting imaginary orchestras, body surfing, and general ecstasy . . . these are but a few of the endless varied symptoms of music fever. I personally have spent many happy hours headbanging to Beethoven and Berlioz, while proudly pumping my rock and roll devil horns in the air. The point is when you feel it you feel it.
With so much fun to be had, people are always wondering if they have what it takes to step into the fray themselves and make some noise. I’ve heard plenty of folks say things like, “I always think that if my parents had put me in piano lessons I could have been really good.” And everyone who teaches music has heard this question, “I’d like my child to play the guitar. Can you teach him?” In reply I say it’s never to late to try, and anything is possible . . .
BUT . . .
. . . music is an art form. As such it is automatically an infinite and rewarding pursuit that comes with a price: endless hours of solitary rehearsal, callouses, frustration, and just plain blood sweat and tears. In other words, in order to reach that awesome peak where the music flows effortlessly through your instrument requires a great deal of hard work and sacrifice, not to mention the most valuable asset of all - TIME. I can even give you a number. In his book, “This is Your Brain on Music”, Daniel J. Levitin says that neurologist have found it takes roughly 10,000 hours of work to become an expert musician.
So before you decide to quit your day job and buy a guitar, you have to ask yourself Question #1: Am I a musician?
Although a lot of mental acrobatics can be performed around this question, it really comes down to this: Do you compulsively and spontaneously play music? I know, I know, it’s too obvious. But look - legendary guitarist B.B.King grew up dirt poor in a shack on a cotton plantation. As a little boy, he stole the wire off his Mom’s broom and nailed it taught to the wall like a guitar string, then spent hour after hour plunking away at it. Buddy Rich grew up in a travelling vaudeville family, and he was banging pots and pans as an act in the show by the time he was four years old. Lenney Breau also grew up in a travelling country caravan, and spontaneously broke into perfect vocal harmony at a rehearsal - they say he was barely even old enough to walk at the time. I myself litterally pounded the stuffing out of 2 couches using only a pair of toy drumsticks and an endless stream of rhythm before my folks finally broke down and bought me a kit for my 3rd birthday.
My point is this - musicians play music and nothing can make them stop. Not lack of money, not lack of a teacher, and not even lack of an instrument will keep a muso from making noise. If you find yourself beating your steering wheel into submission in time to the radio, constantly singing or humming, daydreaming songs as you shop or chop wood, or nailing pieces of wire to the wall just to make something go TWANG, then I recommend you take the next step and get yourself a cheap guitar or something. If you find that you are unable to keep your hands off the thing, then you are definitely a musician . . . and should seek help.
My advice to parents wondering about dormant musical powers in their kids is this: do not stick your kid into lessons arbitrarily. Do not waste your money on a new instrument right away. Wait until they have driven you absolutely crazy with some kind of musical noise. When I was little I banged on pots and pans with Tinker Toys. It took two years of this to get my folks to cough up the dough for a drum kit, and when they did, the first question people would ask when they came into our house for the first time was always, “How can you STAND that constant racket!” So if you can’t stop them from playing no matter what you do, THEN it’s time for lessons.
A special note: if you play non-stop Guitar Hero, or air-band in front of the mirror to David Bowie, this does not make you a musician as the movies so like to imply these days. This makes you a Gamer or possibly a Performer, but since no music is actually produced in either of these scenarios, this doesn’t make you a musician. Neither does having a MySpace, or a great promo shot, or a collection of vintage guitars. Hands on, non-stop practise of the art of music is what makes a musician. Nothing else is it.
