Why Music

“So we came here....” He leaned into the microphone, waited for the shush to fall, and tried again. “We came here today to talk about why we put so much time and energy and money into music education.” It was a departure from his usual talk. They quieted, straining to hear.

“Why does music matter?” he said softly into the microphone. “It doesn’t save lives.” He made eye contact with several in the audience, holding their gaze. “We don’t fight wars. We don’t face hardship.” He looked from one to another, letting silence give weight to his words. “But music makes our lives better.” He walked the width of the stage, letting the words sink in. “Music was important enough that Glenn Miller died taking music to our troops in World War II.”

                                      ~~ Westering Home, Book Four of The Blue Bells Chronicles

Why does music matter?  Why do the arts matter?  Shawn talks about it at one of his performances.  Amy and Angus discuss this question in The Water is Wide, at the top of a mountain, where Angus, a police officer who is very involved in mountain and water rescues, answers the question this way:

“You’ve no idea,” he said. “When I’ve watched a child die before my eyes, when I couldn’t save him, what music does. You save souls.” He lifted his head off her shoulder, studied her face with eyes dry and red. “People like me, Amy, we need people like you, too.”

Today, 24 of my more than 40 students played in four recitals between the two schools of music at which I teach (along with about 70 other students at one of the schools).  I have long been saying I 'want' to quit teaching, but the truth is, I only want to be able to devote more time to writing and publishing.  In truth, I love teaching music and have been doing it non-stop since I was 20 years old.

Long ago, I briefly trained with Cutco Cutlery, who advised us to never say we 'sold a knife,' but always that we 'made someone's life better today.'  This is how I feel about teaching music.  Despite the fact that my original intentions were to be more of a performer like Shawn (well, not quite like him!) and/or a composer, I fell into teaching and have never left, in part--because I know without a doubt that the arts make our lives better.

I know that music makes our lives better, whether as a listener or a player.  Studying music gives us all sorts of benefits in life and being able to get up on stage and play in front of an audience does, too.

I saw that yet again today.  Yes, there were students who made mistakes or forgot a piece in the middle.  We all learn from this, too--that we can get up and try again, which we always have to do in life.  There was a little girl who has had only about 7 lessons who was so excited for the recital--and then got scared.  But she finally came up and played and found out she could do it.  Her brother--who at first insisted in lessons he wouldn't play on stage--went bounding up eager to play for an audience and beaming with joy when he finished.

I have taught some of these kids for years and watched them go from a 20 second rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to playing three minute classical pieces flawlessly and from memory.  I have seen one of my trombone students earn a music scholarship to college.  Tonight I watched another trombone student, in only 8th grade, play a beautiful rendition of Blue Christmas, with exactly the beautiful tone a trombone should have, along with a very fun rendition of Mr. Grinch.  

There were many other wonderful performances, too many to mention.  Some students progress faster than others, but each one feels the steady improvement, as they get up to play.  There is a growing confidence and joy in music.  This is a really nice duet played by two of my flute students--one of whom had only been playing for about seven months at this point:

I'm reminded of two passages from one of my top five favorite novels of all time, The Feet Say Run  by my friend Dan Blum.  In this chapter, Hans, released from the German army after their defeat, is telling of the horrible conditions of post-war Germany.  His father owned an instrument factory and he attempts to scrape together a living by repairing instruments--in a world where no one has time for music--to support his girlfriend and his very young brother.

And then one evening, when I had practically forgotten about the business I had wanted to start, someone actually brought me an instrument to be fixed. A frail old man with an oboe. What a remarkable feeling that was. Looking up into the eyes of that very first customer. Someone was thinking about something besides food! Life—not just existence, but actual life, civilization, was trying to awaken! I showed the oboe to Hilda, played a few notes once I had it playable. “You see this?”

“Yes.”

“This means we’re not dead.” She looked at me strangely. I went on. “Someone wants to play this again. To make music. We’re alive.”

And later, as Hans and Hilda attend the very first concert after the war:

And there was something else in it too—in all great music perhaps, but especially in this music, at this moment—that message of one’s common humanity, not just one’s bond with the one who could create this, but with the rest of humanity that could understand it, who knew its language without having to be taught it, who were born with that understanding, those feelings of sadness and happiness and the capacity to love.

If those customers of mine taught us that we were still alive, then this, this night, seemed to say that it mattered. It mattered that we were alive. We still had beating hearts. We still wanted and ached. 

Music, and the arts, do far more than just teach us to get up on stage or give us momentary happiness.  It does even more than give us a scholarship.  It's a joy and treasure we take with us through life.  Music brings us together.  It tells us we're alive.  It rescues souls.

When is The Battle is O'er coming out?  READ HERE.

If you are interested in having Scotland through the Eyes of the Author presented to your group, please contact me at editors@gabrielshornpress.com 

~ ~ ~

Interested in writing?  Would you like to take some classes?
~ ~ ~

If you like an author's blog posts, please consider liking and sharing.

It helps us continue to do what we do.

For other books about music, see:

Dan Blum
Tempo Rubato by Brendan Carrol
Beethoven in Love by Howard Jay Smith

or other posts under the MUSIC label

For more on my books, see amazon: