So originally, I was going to post a link to an article I read about how music impacts your brain…
and is a good thing to learn…
and keeps you sharp…
in old age…
blah blah blah.
The author raised great points. But it was kinda boring.
Obviously there are benefits to learning how to play music. Some scientific, some less so.
But then I came across this article from the Huffington Post (by Peter Greene, a teacher and writer, here’s his blog).
I don’t know him… and I’m not sure how I feel about his approach to scaling back the “music as a defense” defense.
But I will say that I love what he has to say about the benefits and power of music.
The article expresses feelings I’ve had (and currently have…. and probably will forever have) about learning music, performing music, writing songs, listening to music, and playing with other musicians and friends.
It made me think about a conversation I had over a decade ago.
I had just finished one of my first gigs as an opening act, and the parents of a friend of mine happened to be at the show.
They asked me something like… “Where do you get the inspiration to write your songs?”
My answer was something like, “I’ve tried to stop writing music… and do something more respectable… more normal. But the songs just keep coming.”
For me, music was (and is) just some weird and magical thing that just kind of clicks with me. And I think Peter Greene’s article does a great job of articulating that. Check it out here.
(Jake Posko does in-home and online guitar lessons in the Annapolis, Maryland area including: Annapolis, Edgewater, Severna Park, Pasadena, Crownsville, Arnold and Kent Island, inquire about lessons by e-mailing him at jake@jakeposko.com).
Photo Credit: vxla