Music Of the HEART
’ve been thinking a lot to the purpose of music lately. I started reflecting on what music means to me and its role it plays in my life. This role has changed in different moments in life, but it’s a good reminder as to how people relate to music. It’s especially a good reminder as an educator as to what music means to my students. This post is going to touch that line of corny touchy feely garbage that as a man I avoid. For a moment I’m going not worry about coming across as cheesy in an effort to reflect on the role music has on the individual.
I asked my self the question “What does music mean to me?” The responses to me were very mature and observant answers. I think music can be so hard to describe and define, but it’s easy to describe how it affects us.
“Music is one of, if not the most important aspect of my life.” “Music is how I relate myself to the world.” “Music means the world to me. It makes me think about how it relates to life and I love the beats.” “Music is a way to express yourself, keep you company while you’re alone, and always give you something to do.” “Music is everything, without music there is no purpose to a lot of stuff.” “Music is a way to express yourself and your feelings. It’s something that I can go to whenever I need it.” “Music is a way to express feelings that might be hard to express otherwise.” “Music to me is a source of stress relief. It helps me calm down or just to relax, on a bad day. But on a good day, music just helps me get through the day.” “Music is a way of expressing me and being able to relate to other people.” “It can personify emotions in life if written well.” “Music is a source of inspiration and expression.” “Music wakes me up, gets me going, and is a way to add some more awesomeness to every day.” “Music means a lot to me. It is a way to express and release emotions. I love music that on top of the fun beats, it can carry a message that is relative to real life situations.” “Music is a nice thing you can listen to when you want to get out and just go into your own world.” “Music is my way to escape from the real world and just listen and let myself go.” “Music is freedom. It’s everything. Music connects the world!” “It is the expression of deep emotions and feelings.” “Music calms me down, lifts me up and always makes me feel a certain way.” “Explains things when words fail; Music speaks.” “Music means something that’s inspiring and can match your moods” “Music helps me connect to life.”
Again these responses are very insightful to me. It really shows the importance music plays in their life. For some people music is the most important thing in their life. For others it’s one of the ways they express their emotions. While looking at this list I thought it would be interesting to simplify this list as to what I infer the students were trying to say in its simplest form. Here’s what I came up with:
Music is ones identity Music is ones world Music is a drug Music is a therapist Music is how one shows the world what I’m feeling Music is how one socially interact with humans Music is entertainment Music is inspirational Music is a friend Music is life
Some of these responses to me aren’t healthy. Making music your world isn’t necessarily a good thing. I’m not questioning the moral values one places on music, but on the importance music plays on society and the individual. As I look at my list I can easily share example after example of how this has been true in my life during different stages. It reminds me as I teach how important music is to our culture. It makes it exciting to be a music teacher, while at the same time gives me a responsibility to show the benefits of music in their life.
I would encourage you to ask yourselves the question. What does music mean to you?
