The "Musician"

What is it about music that just makes musicians go ga-ga? I have to wonder. Way back when, when we were all just starting out did we have any idea what we were getting ourselves into? There are thousands of people who pick up and instrument and literally put it back down because it's too time consuming or it wasnt what they expected. What was it that made us stick to it? Sitting here in my room listening to various songs and pieces on my ipod, such thoughts run through my head. As you may have guessed, I have a pretty eclectic collection of music. There's a little bit of everything on there. However it continues to surprise me how Beethoven or Tchaikovsky can catch and keep my attention much easier than any other upbeat song artist.

I can remember thinking to myself, when I had my first horrible concert experience back in like 6th grade, that I was done with the violin and music and I was done trying to be the next Zofia Glashauser. I may have cried a bit that night and shoved my violin in my case under my bed, never to be touched again. However, needless to say I was up the next morning practing once again. How musicians can say that had such a horrible concert experience that it made you want to just throw in the towel and give up all together? I'm sure about 99% if not 100% of us can say that. However, none of us did. You stuck with it and you kept practicing and you got better and better.

What is it that makes you a "musician?" Playing an instrument no more makes you a musician than experimenting makes you a scientist. If you a bow in one hand and a cello in the other, does that makes you a cellist? No, atlease not for a couple of years, so what is it that makes a musician? Is it the drive that they all possess that makes them want to do more, practice more, play more? Or is the pride we feel when master a ridiculously accented run? Or the rush you feel on stage? Can you define what it truely means to be a musician? Is it the internal feeling about music in general?

One may ask how a musician is able to connect with music so well and bring it to life. I always saw music as more than just a hobby. I saw it as a lifestyle. Something is here to stay despite the fact that I may feel discouraged at times and want to quit. Some people considered it a religion, which in a way, would mean the same as it being a lifestyle. Some consider a community or an outreach. I suppose its one of the many wonders of life. Just imagine how different some of your lives would be if you never picked up another bow or reed in your life? Or if your never sat behind another piano or organ? Or if you never were never to sing again? That is what makes you a musician.