| I dropped music from my life for 47 years, while I | | | | I studied music and the cello as a child. Along with the |
| taught English and raised my family. Although I missed | | | | lessons came the unspoken rule that studying music |
| music intensely, I said, like many other people, that I had | | | | was a sacred obligation like becoming a nun: all or |
| no time for music making. What I really meant was, "I | | | | nothing. I managed until college. Then, challenged to |
| don't have time to practice enough. I can't play as | | | | succeed in my college classes, I quit both my music |
| beautifully as I would like to. So I am quitting this field | | | | lessons and my playing. All or nothing? It had to be |
| totally." Only in my 60's, after I retired from my job as a | | | | nothing. |
| teacher of English, did I go back to studying and playing | | | | It took me forty-seven years to realize how wrong |
| the cello. | | | | that notion was. Amateurs who play bridge, golf, |
| Hearing that I've gone back to playing music, people | | | | contact sports or even the guitar are not derided for |
| often say, "Oh, I love the sound of a cello! I wish I could | | | | being less skillful than professionals. They play as well |
| do that. But I KNOW I can't." Music is absent from their | | | | as they can, for their own pleasure, not for paying |
| lives. | | | | audiences, that's all. Why shouldn't the same standards |
| Listening to their sad voices, I feel very sorry for them | | | | apply to amateur chamber musicians? |
| and very frustrated. Why are people so afraid of | | | | They do, once you find a congenial group. And now, |
| trying to play music? So sure that they can't? Without | | | | after a 47 year gap, and sixteen years of being an |
| ever trying, they've denied themselves this opportunity. | | | | amateur and a senior citizen, I can declare myself |
| Sometimes it's because they never had any musical | | | | blessed, playing for the love of it, happy. |
| instruction in childhood and simply assume that all | | | | Why is that? First of all, you can't be "retired" when |
| musical training is formidably difficult. Unfortunately, | | | | you're playing a musical instrument. You are as |
| many music teachers and self-styled experts | | | | physically involved as an athlete during a game. Your |
| perpetuate this myth, by repeating how difficult it is to | | | | heart is pumping hard, your juices are flowing. Second, |
| learn any instrument, how much practice it takes, and | | | | you are not using language, that deceptive, tarnished |
| so on. Sometimes they add that the cello is among the | | | | medium, to communicate with your fellow players. You |
| most difficult of all. Other adults were forced to take | | | | are passing musical lines of dialog back and forth |
| piano or violin lessons as children and didn't like | | | | among you, and your lines were written by geniuses. |
| practicing, so they decided at the time that they had no | | | | That dialog is irresistible. |
| musical talent. Or a school teacher said they couldn't | | | | There is a joy in the exactness of the music's timing |
| sing in tune, so they shut their voices down forever. Or, | | | | and dynamics (getting louder and softer), as your part |
| worse yet, a demanding "old school" music teacher | | | | fits in with the others. You experience the sense of |
| completely discouraged them. Unfortunately, such | | | | team work producing an invisible yet beautiful object. |
| stories are far too common. | | | | When the music calls for a slowing down and then a |
| But that's such a pity! Playing music is one of life's | | | | sudden pick up to the previous speed, you all do that |
| most glorious experiences. Nobody should be deprived | | | | together. This can happen only if the players are |
| of it, especially through an unwarranted fear of any | | | | listening very carefully to each other. How often do |
| personal inadequacies or music's difficulties. | | | | your companions listen to you and echo you so closely |
| I'm not promising that learning to play an instrument | | | | that you are sure you have been thoroughly heard? |
| doesn't require practice and repetition. It certainly does. | | | | That seldom happens except when playing music. |
| Nor do I promise that older beginners will learn to play | | | | There, the literal and figurative harmony of the moment |
| complicated pieces beautifully enough to perform in a | | | | is truly exhilarating. |
| concert. But that's not what counts. If their goals are | | | | Beyond all this is music's ability to speak directly to our |
| modest, they can learn to play well enough to bring | | | | emotions. If you were fortunate enough to play music |
| real pleasure to themselves and, possibly, to fellow | | | | when you were a child, returning to it can help you |
| amateur players in their circle. | | | | recapture that expressive quality that you may have |
| "Well enough." What does that mean? People should | | | | lost. It's no less joyful for beginners. I have shown |
| decide that for themselves. For example, Noah | | | | people how to move the bow back and forth across |
| Adams, a commentator for NPR radio, decided that he | | | | the cello's four strings to unleash its gorgeous sound in |
| would be a successful musician if he could perform | | | | a few minutes, and seen them happy achieving that |
| Schumann's Traumerie in a private concert just for his | | | | goal alone. Let me encourage you to participate in this |
| wife. His book, Piano Lessons, describes his | | | | extraordinary world. |
| experiences achieving that goal. | | | | |