Keeping it fresh: learning a new instrument

If you’re feeling a bit stale in your musical explorations, here’s an idea to spice things up: pick up a new instrument.

No, I’m not talking about expanding your collection of axes with “yet-another-one-of-a-kind” that differs from your others only by serial number or label year and puts you on the outs with your spouse…not that I would know anything about that.  :-)  I’m talking about a different instrument.

Our friends over at Making Music Magazine – one of your PartTimeMusician.com ad partners! – published this article pointing out how picking up a second instrument that is related to one you already know can expand your horizons and breathe new life into your music. It’s well worth the read.

A word of caution from someone who is a multi-instrumentalist, though: take care not to spread yourself too thin. The old expression “jack of all trades and master of none” was coined for a reason, and trying to do too many things often results in doing nothing well. If you feel yourself getting discouraged with your progress on either instrument, refocus…and remind yourself that it’s all good.

Taking up a second instrument can indeed broaden your horizons and rejuvenate your music-making, and choosing an instrument similar to one you already know allows you to apply your growth to both. If you’re stuck in a rut on your musical path, consider branching out with a second instrument. You just might rediscover what made you fall in love with playing music in the first place.

All the best,
Mark

P.S. – If you’re a multi-instrumentalist already or are considering becoming one, please leave a comment below or drop us a line; we’d love to hear your thoughts. The more we (all) share, the more we (all) know!

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PTMs in the news: Learning other subjects with music

Former nurse and now-schoolteacher Debra Cave was looking for something to supercharge her fourth-grade students’ learning. Instead of just repeating the material and hoping for the best, she spent two months watching the Disney Channel(TM), composed and recorded “science songs”, and began singing them in the classroom – to rave reviews!

This article tells the rest of the story. For those of us who passed our high school Speech class recitation of the Preamble to the US Constitution by singing the Schoolhouse Rock version in our heads (adding the phrase “of the United States” that the jingle version inexplicably omitted), this serves as no surprise. Frankly, I can sing many of the Schoolhouse Rock jingles to this day…but we’ll address that in a future article. 

Ms. Cave’s resultant DVDs have been purchased and used in schools across the country, at every level from elementary to high school. Simply put, learning music helps us learn…everything.

As Part-Time Musicians (PTMs), many times we are guilty of focusing only upon playing an instrument…but the voice is also an instrument, one that is nearly universal. Hats off to Debra Cave and all of the other PTMs who “play” the most natural instrument of all…and share their gift with others.

All the best,
Mark

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