I’ve been noticing lately how connected our lives are to our music. Well, if we ARE music then that might imply that our lives and our music are the same thing.  Or we can think of them as aliases of each other. On my Mac I can select an object and make an alias from it. Now anything I do to the object is reflected in the alias and vice versa. Maybe it’s the same with Music and Life. We just don’t always know which is the original.

I notice this relationship more in my students than in myself. So having written that, it might be fun to jump in to my own psyche as an example. One of my biggest blocks is reading music. When I think that reading music is mostly about following directions it makes me ponder a truth that I really don’t like following directions. I like to do things my way. So maybe I could work on being a good follower which would in turn help my reading skills. And maybe if I develop my reading skills it will teach me to be a better follower. And if reading becomes really fun (which it tends to be) I will start to enjoy following more.

I have students who are changing  many aspects of their lives through music and vice versa. Some are becoming less tentative in life and music. Some are more able to flow around life’s bumps as they develop music improvisation skills. Some, like me, are learning to focus more as they learn to read music.

I’m wondering if we can achieve all of our desires through music. Want to be more powerful?  Work on your fortissimo playing. (That means playing very loud) Want new love in your life? Put some attention on your sensitivity, your passion, and your sensualness in your music. Want to be rich? Play like there are no limits to your creativity.

In other words, play more music and live more life.