Why You Should Never Give Up On Music

We are often drawn in by the promise of greatness when it comes to music.

Coming from a musical family, I was no stranger to the grace and poise of the violin, the thunder of the piano, the cool attitude of the saxophone; I remember the first time I saw a symphony orchestra on YouTube and I thought ‘that should come easy to me’.

Like many young overachievers, I took on something that proved to be too big.

My teacher could have been in one of those coming of age movies about classical music (you know the type). She had four cats and a rickety old piano that was almost falling apart, and a vision for each of her students.

I would leave lessons covered in stray cat hairs and buzzing with excitement about the pianist that I was going to be.

I started off practicing multiple times a week, but every lesson came with a new criticism.

Who knew that playing a centuries old instrument actually involved some technique? I didn’t know it at the time, but my twelve year old attitude was my actual biggest obstruction, not my posture.

I played at my first community music recital a piece made up of notes all within the same octave – it’s safe to say that I wasn’t the next Mozart as of yet. As with a lot of skills, I was starting to realise that this whole ‘progress’ thing was taking longer than I thought.

The longer I played classical piano, the more it felt like a chore. I was only working my way towards exams because I felt like I had to, not because I truly enjoyed it. After 5 years of lessons and straight A’s, I quit.

I had never really appreciated music as much as I thought I would, and stopping really made no difference to my life.

For ages, the piano in my home stayed untouched and gathering dust. That was until my end of year exams for year 11.

I came home from my morning English examination to an empty house.

I had a week of study ahead of me, but I was already feeling burnt out. Without giving it much thought, I found myself dusting off the piano and pulling out my old sheet music.

Nobody was around to listen or assess my musical prowess, it was just me and the house.

I re-learnt all of my old pieces surprisingly quick for having not played for three whole years.

Spine straight, shoulders back, chin neutral, arms parallel to the floor, I played everything. It felt so good to not care about who was listening.

This was how I was supposed to enjoy music, I was only just realising.

Now, I play the piano as often as I can. Classical, contemporary, jazz, even just songs I hear on the radio.

I spent too much time worrying about whether I was good at the piano, when I should have just sat back and enjoyed the privilege of creating beautiful sounds.

The current state of the world presents the perfect opportunity for us to realise and appreciate the benefits of music. Not for ‘increased blood flow in the brain’ or ‘improved spatial-temporal reasoning,’ but as an art medium with the power to bring a sense of peace to our lives in such chaotic times.

If you’re reading this and have felt defeated when it comes to music, please don’t give up.

When striving for perfection we often forget that music is meant to bring enjoyment to the musician as well. Practice with the goal of happiness, not greatness!

– Written by Krystel Parras