Amaze and entertain your friends at parties. Improve your basketball skills—and your
coordination in just about any other sport. Love your job, and get paid well for it. Excel at
a career in…technology? Impress the ladies with your skills! (Now do I have your
attention? Not yet?) Become a famous author, Nobel Prize winning scientist, politician,
actor, Fortune 500 CEO, heart surgeon, or perhaps even an English teacher. You may
wonder what connection these very different things have to one another. Well, they are
all linked by a common thread. They represent the endless opportunities in life that are
provided by playing a musical instrument.
Most of you probably didn’t recognize the professions or activities I just listed as
having anything to do with playing a musical instrument. In fact, many people believe
that playing a musical instrument is only valuable if you ultimately want a career as a
musician. Furthermore, people perceive that being a musician for a living is not what they
would consider a “serious” job, either in terms of the job itself or the money one is paid.
These misperceptions about the value of playing an instrument are based on stereotypes,
generalities, and a lack of knowledge of the information that proves that the benefits of
playing an instrument are life long. This is not just opinion, it’s a fact.
Playing a musical instrument develops and improves skills that lead to success in
many different careers beyond just music. Research compiled by the National
Association of Music Education has shown that studying an instrument improves
cognitive development, basic math, reasoning and reading abilities, as well as helping to
develop critical thinking and improve physical coordination. According to a 2001 College
Entrance Examination Board report, there may even be a connection between music and
improved SAT performance. (I bet some of you regret quitting the trombone in sixth
grade right about now, don’t you?) However, the skills that playing a musical instrument
help develop go beyond what research can measure. They also include developing self
discipline, confidence, and self-esteem, traits that are important to academics, excelling
in a career later in life, and feeling comfortable in social situations (dude…why do you
think musicians always leave the party with the hot girl?). If all of this hasn’t convinced
you, now let me share the names of some other talented people who played a musical
instrument and have achieved fame and success in many fields: Frank Lloyd Wright,
architect and pianist; Steve Case, founder of AOL and guitarist; Steven King, author and
guitarist; Albert Einstein, physicist and violinist; Oscar Robertson, all time great NBA
player and flautist; Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State and pianist; Bill Clinton, former
President and saxophonist; David Kulieke, chairman of the L.F.C.D.S English
department and clarinetist (has anyone heard of that guy?). All of these talented people
have made their mark in fields other than music, suggesting that the value of learning to
play a musical instrument contributes to opening the doors to many opportunities.
But let’s not forget a career in music itself! We can immediately begin by busting the
myth that choosing to become a musician as a career can only lead to becoming a
washed-up rock star with a substance abuse problem or a struggling street performer. The
truth is if one does choose to become a musician as a career today, there are more
exciting, rewarding, and well-paying career opportunities than ever before. Being a
musician is a serious talent and a serious job with endless possibilities. Imagine a
cutting-edge career in music technology as a sound and video editor or a technologybased music instruction designer. One might also consider becoming a commercial jingle
composer, a television show composer, or a film score composer; some composers earn
up to $200,000 per film! In the field of communications, musicians who become music
reporters, publishers, or editors make well over $100,000 a year. Successful choir,
orchestra, and opera conductors can often earn up to $275,000 annually. Having a career
as a musician in today’s world can truly be both personally and financially rewarding.
Playing an instrument, however, is not just a path to a career. The ability to play is
also the ultimate hobby that one keeps for a lifetime. Unlike other interests or hobbies,
such as sports, that require physical skills that deteriorate over time, one’s musical ability
doesn’t diminish as severely with age. You can just as easily pick up a guitar and play a
favorite piece at age sixty as you can at age sixteen. (You might not look as good, but you
would still probably sound pretty good). In addition, consider the very appealing social
talent of always being the life of the party; break the ice, impress your friends, or
transform a dull evening into a lively event by sitting down at the piano and becoming the
night’s entertainment. I’m not talking about trashing the hotel room, people; I’m just
talking about getting things started! Yes, and you can also take your musical talents
anywhere you go and use them at any time. Put your violin in your backpack and take it
off to college. (Try doing that with a horse!) Serenade your girlfriend outside her
apartment window with the jazz flute that you packed in your briefcase. After all,
William Shakespeare said, “If music be the food of love, play on.” Seriously, with what
other hobby could you have these kinds of opportunities?
I am hoping that by now, many of you who have considered quitting the study of your
musical instrument or may have even quit already, are rethinking your decision. Take
another look at how playing an instrument can lead to academic, career, and social
success, as well as to personal gratification. It is never too late to pick up your instrument
again. In the words of philosopher of Friedrich Nietzsche, “Without music, life would be
a mistake.”
Playing a musical instrument truly provides one with endless opportunities. As I look
into my own crystal ball, I can clearly see the brilliant future for my friends, who
continue to study and play. Graham Harwood: Saxophone player and a Nobel Prize
winning economist; Jenny Janeck: Oboist and Supreme Court Justice; Casper Clausen:
Tuba player and world famous artist; Joanie Davis: Clarinetist and Pulitzer Prize
Winning author; Mark Shannahan: Baritone horn player and World Cup skier; Allyson
Genger: Flautist and Oscar winning actress; Jon Hennessey: Clarinetist and cardiac
surgeon; And last but not least, Jack Schweighauser, trumpet player, guitarist,
and…ROCK STAR! “THANK YOU, LADIES AND GENTLEMAN…AND GOOD
NIGHT! I LOVE YOU, LAKE FOREST!”