This is your brain.....on music!

Thanks Christine for recommending this NYT's article---
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/science/19brain.html?_r=1

Lucky to Love Classical-Jeremy Lamb, Cello

When I go to a cocktail party and tell people I'm a classical cellist, I often get a raised eyebrow. It's the "How curious you must be..." look; the one that means they are quietly wondering how it came to be that I have spent so much of my life pursuing the kind of music other people tend to associate with gray-haired audiences and really pretty movie scores. Many of you who appreciate classical music but are not professional musicians yourselves have either played an instrument at some point in your life, or had someone close to you who shared with you their own appreciation of classical music. For you, it probably doesn't seem like such a strange path to choose. For those who do wonder, though, I'd like to shed some light on this question. How did we professional classical musicians come to the music in the first place, and what motivated us to pursue it so relentlessly?

For me, my motivation grew out of love...and then was helped along by my parents...and then a bit after that went back to love (although I still get a little parental encouragement every now and then). The initial love came from my dad's record collection. When I was very young, he would come home from work and listen to any of his LP's while I sat with him. Very quickly I realized that he didn't need to spend any more time deciding which record to play since the best one was obviously Beethoven's Piano Concerto no.3. It was the angst that grabbed me, I think, because even today it strikes that chord in me that means inner frustration. Maybe that sounds redundant, since I'm not sure what “outer frustration” would be, but I mean the kind that makes us feel human, that comes from not being fully appreciated by those around us. Since this is probably what all kids feel a lot of the time, I can easily see why it grabbed me the way it did. It wasn't long before I was playing Beethoven on the piano myself. After losing interest for a while in my awkward middle school years, my parents (who at that point maybe had a better idea than I did how much I might later regret forsaking music for good) stepped in and forced me to pick up some instrument before high school, which is when I began playing cello. It definitely took a few months of forced practice sessions before I rediscovered my old love for classical music, but it most certainly came back with a passion because, eventually, I was turning down just about everything in favor of more practice time.

Looking back, I wish I had stayed with it through those awkward in-between years (I'd have been where I am now five years ago!), but I also see how lucky I was to have someone who could pass on their love of the music. In general, I think classical music can be difficult to get into without someone's help. If you did have that person in your life, or your parents did make you play an instrument, then count yourself lucky because a lot of people had neither opportunity. If you weren't in the lucky bunch, perhaps this blog or the following ones by my fellow Opus 9ers will help you seek someone out, or if you're younger, pester your parents to pester you about picking up an instrument!