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Music: Why do we need to learn it?

What is music? One might ask. Music is a unique

language by itself, a language communicated

through a variety of rhythms, melodies and

harmonies, a language that could portray feelings

and mood more effectively than any other

languages in the world. A famous composer once

said, Why bother composing a melody if you can

describe your feelings with words? clearly,

mankind does not invent music for nothing. Music

can be anything, from the soft crisp melody played

on the piano to loud and rhythmic bangs played by

rock bands. Even the chirping of birds can be

defined as music. In short, any sounds that couldproduce a feeling of well-being and pleasure to the

human heart could be called music.

Michael Torke, an American Jazz composer once

said, Why waste money on psychotherapy when

you can listen to the B minor mass? (2010). Thus,

for Torke, Music was able to help a person in

managing stress. Personally, I am of the same mind

as Torke. Music can definitely help in releasing

stress that we encounter in our eve ryday life. When

I first started attending music classes, I have no

idea what benefit I will obtain from it. Now, as Ivoyage down the churning river of life, the benefits

of music started to become clear to me. For

instance, when I felt stressed out or infuriated, I

would play my piano. In no time, I would feel calm

and peaceful. This is, of course, one of the reasons

why I can study without feeling stressed out like my

friends.

Last year, when I attended a motivational talk, the

motivator told me that a person who is more

dominant in the right side of his brain will be more

creative and holistic while a person who is more

dominant in the left side of his brain tend to be

more logical and analytical. Personally, I believed a

person with a balanced brain stands a better

chance of succeeding in life than a person that is

only dominant in one side of his brain. For example,

Albert Einstein out performed his peers by

introducing an entirely new idea in physics, known

as the theory of relativity. According to Einsteins

theory (1916), time and space is relative, in otherwords, not rigid as our intuitive mind tells us. Why

can Einstein devise this entirely new concept but

not his colleagues? The answer lies in music. Music,

as we all know, enhances ones creativity. It is

through his creative mind did Einstein discover the

theory of relativity. According to accounts given by

Einsteins friends and family, the famous

theoretical physicist was often seen playing his

violin, accompanied by his friend and pianist, Neils

Bohr, the scientist who discovered the model of

atom that we knew today. In a nutshell, music

enhances creativity which, in turn, boosts our

creative thinking skills, giving us the advantage inany field we pursue as we would have the ability to

think out of the box.

Although music may seem more like a form of art,

it does contain a considerable amount of logic in it.

To illustrate this, lets look at an example: A child

banging away on a piano and a composer doing a

spontaneous composing

on a piano. What are

the differences between

those two? One, the

composer actually

follows a set of musical

rules when composing.

By following the rules of

cadences (musical punctuation) and chords, the

composer can easily compose melody simply by

improvising the chords. A child playing on the piano,

however, does not follow any set of musical rules at

all. Therefore, the sound produced is noisy and

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annoying. This is simple but clear example proves

that music is actually more than just a form of art.

In order to play a good piece on the piano, one

needs to have acute technical skill and rhythmic

feel. Without it, a good piece could be reduced to

annoying noises played on the piano. When a

musician - whether professional performer or

leisure player - achieves such standard, he or she

would have a high level of logical thinking and

problem solving skills. Hence, we can conclude that

music does, in fact, help in maximizing ones logical

thinking potential.

In addition, music is also one of the methods that

could be used to change ones attitude. While on

the fields, sports player learns to accept winning

and losing, learn to work together as a team and

cooperate with others. In the classroom, students

learnt reading, writing and even arithmetic. Yet,

none of the said subjects above are more efficient

at changing a persons attitude than music. As the

saying goes, success is not determined by a

persons ALTITUDE, but rather, it is determined by

his ATTITUDE. Undoubtedly, attitude changing is

an essential process in the road to success. Thus,

we could also say that learning music is indeed

important in our life. In spite of this, if one does not

indulge himself in music, it does not mean that he

could not achieve success in life. On the contrary,

he may have to change his attitude in a different

way, or, he might already have the right attitude to

succeed. Music, in this case, resembles a tool which

one could use to polish his attitude, not a pill that

cures attitude problems instantly.

Moreover, having music skill in life is just like an

added bonus. Picture this: a girl, sitting alone in a

high-class cafeteria. Two boys, both are equally

handsome and rich, lets call them Boy A and Boy B.

Boy A ran towards the girl and reaches her first. As

he was about to gave her the flowers that he

prepared earlier, a clear and romantic tone rang

out. Even before Boy A could say anything, Boy B

starts to play the piano. His hand dances across the

keys with movements of grace, the girls heart was

instantly captured. By now, everyone should have

understood what I have meant. Music is not just a

hobby; it is an indispensable part of everybodys life.

Apart from what happened in the short scenario

above, a person could also use his music skills in

other ways. For instance, we could find higher paid

part time jobs than our peers if we know music.

Surely, performing in hotels and private clubs

should earn you more money than being a waiter

or waitress in the same place. This is very helpful

for college students who work part -time in order to

pay their school fees.

Finally, I would like to conclude that, music

education helps a great deal in our life. Whether it

is adrenaline pumping or soul soothing, music is a

sure fire way to enhance our feeling. I presume that,

evidently, music was not a wasted invention.

Seeing that whether we like it or not, music is here

to stay, we might as well learn and make full use of

it.

By Ivan Ling Ting Yang

Reference List

1. Torke, M. 2010. Michael Torke: Biography.

http://www.michaeltorke.com/bio.html

2. Einstein, A. 1916. Die Grundlage der allgemeinen

Relativitaetstheorie(The General Theory of

Relativity).Annalen der Physik. Vol: 7