Melody of Life

I met Brad Garner during our freshman year. I found that he was a talented guitarist and had a strong passion for music. He and I had many things to talk about that couldn't be discussed with many other people (such as classical works, performance, or arrangement), and quickly became good friends. But, as I learned, he wasn't always into music.

Brad's entrance into the musical world did go very smoothly. He told me that he took band class starting in 4th grade and played the trumpet. Brad admitted that he disliked the experience, and that music “wasn't something [he] wanted to do with [his] life.”

A few short years after that, Brad took up guitar as many young men do. With dedication and a genuine interest to guitar playing, he finally became heavily involved in music. He was playing guitar and piano, as well as composing and arranging music. He works primarily in classical music, folk rock, and progressive metal (a form of metal heavily influenced by classical music). When asked if he felt he had progressed towards his musical goals, Brad told me, “I've definitely progressed as a player and a songwriter. I have written several songs of my own and played a few small gigs.”

My experience has not been much more different than his. I began playing oboe in the 6th grade. While I had always loved music, it had never really been that important to me. Upon entering high school, I needed to learn an additional instrument to play during marching band season, since the oboe's reed is too fragile to move around with. I chose to play the flute because it was similar to the oboe in many ways. Mostly, a lot of the fingerings are the same, and flautists and oboists read similar music. It was at this point that my musical side, previously dormant, took control.

After successfully learning flute, I had an insatiable hunger for all things musical. I began writing music on my computer at home, and was trying to learn to play even more instruments. Due to my broader experience in music, even my oboe playing had become better because I had a more drawn-back view of music. To this day I'm still composing frequently, and can play a very wide array of musical instruments including the trumpet, trombone, vibraphone, and piano.

Brad told me that he spends at least half an hour every day practicing guitar, often much more. While I am out of practice, I certainly spend at least that amount of time writing music. Still, neither of us are music majors, but English majors. Brad and I both agree that our involvement in the musical scene does not distract us from school or work. My feelings are that it actually helps us in our tasks. Since I came into the “music scene,” I feel that I have gained the ability to think more logically, step back and see things for what they are, and concentrate better. Needless to say, this helps in many every day activities, most of all in schoolwork of just about any subject.

I asked Brad how his musical talents and interests have helped him in everyday life. He told me that he has made a great deal of friends because he runs into people playing guitar, or people see him playing guitar. Guitar playing is probably the most popular musical activity around. It was for this reason that I subjected my own life to question. What has my musical interest done for me? Obviously, being chiefly a composer is significantly different than being a guitarist. It's rare that someone will happen upon me writing music and know what I'm doing.

I find that it has actually helped me more to make friends who aren't interested in music than with people who are. Since guitar playing is common, music composition is much more impressive to those not adept in music in the same way that a basic computer program is awe-inspiring to someone who has never programmed before. Aside from the social aspect, I find that music has helped me in school. Coming up with melodies, counter melodies, runs, and rhythms takes hours, not to mention memorizing terms, keys, and transpositions for different instruments. I think it's safe to say that writing music is both a mathematical and artistic process that takes strict concentration. It's no surprise then, that I have excelled in all of my math classes and my English classes. Brad agreed with me on this point.

As a closing question, I asked Brad what the importance of music was to him. He answered, “It is of great importance to me. It's something I want to do for the rest of my life.” Brad and I have both expressed that even if it's not our career, music will always be a key element in our social, academic, and artistic lives. That sort of dedication and interest is very rare in a time when it's easy to sit and watch television all day and stay relatively entertained. It's a good thing there are those of us still rooted in the arts.

Involvement in music is a very enriching experience for all the reasons previously explained. Musicians are inadvertently trained in mathematics and artistic expression. And, like advocates of any given hobby, it gives us some common ground when we meet people of the same interest, which helps us make friends. Life would be quite dull without music, but there's no need to thank musicians. Our experience is reward enough.