Posts Tagged ‘music’

The Musician’s Curse

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

Statistics show artists have a higher chance of being bi-polar. I believe that. I don’t think I’m bi-polar, cause I’ve seen bi-polar, but I’m probably more emotional than most. You see I have this theory that real musicians experience emotions on a deeper level than the general public. This is not to say your emotions are mere imitations or shallow, but just to say from my experience, it seems like many musicians are emotional and feel a stronger intensity of emotion than  Average Joe. I’m not sure what causes it, but I do know what to call it: The Musician’s Curse. Why is it a curse you ask? Let me give you an example.

As a songwriter, most of my songs are based around artifacts of my life – people, places, events, etc. I’m not one to brag, but I’ve had many people mention how cool/great/interesting my songs are. In fact, I’ve had students request to learn some of my songs, and I’ve heard people humming my songs after they’ve heard them. On the one hand, my intense emotions allow me to write beautiful masterpieces of song, and to explore the depths of pain, fear, grief, anger, despair, hope, elation, love, joy and Serenity in a way I know some may not be capable of. On the other hand, there are times when I could totally live without emotional depth. Like today. My one saving grace is I do at least have a guitar to pour my new-found experiences into, and one day I can look back at this amazing masterpiece, and remember, but not feel. I just wish that day was today.

Music and Tolerance

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010

I know music is one of the ways people distinguish and classify themselves as individuals. It’s no stretch of the imagination for example, to think of someone dressed in black from head to toe, with long, black hair as “metal” or gothic”. I think distinguishing yourself is a mark of individuality and an inner need to be different. That’s great, but too often, people go the extra distance by very narrowly classifying the music they listen to. As a music instructor, my job is to get to know a new student to better help them along on their musical journey. One of the first questions I usually ask is  ”what kind of music are you into?”. I tend to hear all kinds of answers, but it seems the most common answer I’ve heard recently is “I listen to everything… except country”. Or my personal favorite, “I listen to everything – you know, rock, hard rock, indie, classic rock”.

It kind of reminds me of that scene in The Blues Brothers when Jake asks the bartender what kind of music they typically have there, to which her response is “Oh, we have both kinds – country and western.”

Now I know I’m not the most musically tolerant individual, but I am trying, and I do believe people have not just the right, but the duty to be educated, cultured and tolerant. I think music is a great vehicle for this. I think we should all learn to see the beauty in rock, blues, jazz, country, western, indie, big band, classical, etc. You may not love everything about a particular genre, but I guarantee you’ll find at least one song you enjoy. And as logic would follow, if you can find one song you enjoy from your least favorite genre, you can find more.

Although my diet of music consists mainly of metal and it’s many sub-genres, I still make it a point to listen to a wide variety of music, and have found I enjoy many new genres and artists I expose myself too.

Anyways, in closing, open your mind to new genres, artists, styles, and generations. Better yet, open your mind to tolerance, individualism and cultural and racial disparity.