The Science of Music

Last week I had the pleasure of talking to a group of ex-candidates about my music career and life. I began by telling them about purpose and how passion more often than not, can tell you what something was designed to do. Even inanimate objects follow this principle. A car designed to do speeds of over 250kph like the Bugatti will protest at low speeds because its potential is to be a super car. In the same way in nature, we see the same principle at work. The solitary eagle will not be seen foraging for worms like a chicken for it was created to be a majestic hunter and to weather the storms. I believe that all nature understands their purpose and lucky for us because how awkward would it be to see your fully vegetarian cow devouring a piece of marinated steak!!!

Awkward as that may be, everyday a dancer becomes a surgeon, a musician an architect, a pilot a lawyer. With no regard for the drum beat that thumps so heavily in our hearts, we go on wild goose chases, hoping to be fulfilled in an area we are not suited for. No wonder the lack of enthusiasm. It strikes me that the word enthusiasm comes from the Greek root word entheos which means inspired by God. Take away enthusiasm and you create a vacuum that needs filling, a job that apathy is more than willing and able to take up!

I propose that if you are not willing to lose everything for purpose then you are not ready to live at all; if you have nothing to lose, purpose will find its way into your heart. It is a desperate man who failed a thousand times, finally succeeding to create the light bulb. It is a man who had a dream that one day people of colour and white people would ride in the same bus or go to the same schools- not segregated as it was. It was that same man who died even before he saw the culmination of what he had fought for, thus it’s easy to see why martyrs embody purpose. If this be a true premise then it is safe to say that purpose equals passion and vice versa. Purpose is what makes you work hard and long even without the promise of success.

However, in a world that is more competitive than encouraging, one ought to realize that the fight for purpose is not an easy task. It is not a fight for the faint hearted. It is one that needs all facets of the being to be focused and unrelenting. I find that what we call fall back on plans are merely societies’ way of refusing to acknowledge that as much as all disciplines are indeed intertwined, they are autonomous. If all of us became doctors or lawyers, who would be left to write the histories of the world or the great symphonies that permeate both culture and time influencing the very fabric of life? Music is such a powerful socio-economic tool that one of Plato’s students said something to this effect: Don’t show me the laws of the land, show me the music, I’ll tell you the culture of the people. It was common place for philosophers to study widely and even Einstein is said to have studied the violin.

As outrageous as this may sound I believe that music is as much an art as it is a science. Could it be that Einstein’s theory of relativity was developed during his study of an art? The study of harmony itself is science. Pythagoras established music as an exact science, applying his newly found law of harmonic intervals to all the phenomena of Nature, even going so far as to demonstrate the harmonic relationship of the planets, constellations, and elements to each other.

Scientists have discovered that learning to read music or play a musical instrument develops higher thinking skills. The student excels at problem solving, evaluation and analysis. Music reading uses the same portion of the brain that’s used in mathematical thinking. That’s why so many adept musicians are also quite good in math.

The Department of Education study in The United States of America found that those who reported consistent involvement in instrumental music over the middle and high school years show significantly higher levels of mathematics proficiency by grade 12. (This observation holds regardless of students' socioeconomic status.) [cnn.com]

Though the benefits of music are scientifically proven, society today relegates the place of the arts to the extent of removing the curricula from the primary education level; an action that has proved both fatal and detrimental to the growth of the student. Basic problem solving and critical thinking have altogether been removed. I dare say that a life devoid the arts is no life at all.

The stigma and controversy that follows music is very disturbing. Through my journey in purpose, I have often been met with stares after proclaiming what I do for a living; Quite explicable, considering the history of the arts. Indeed, many a great music composers were forced into different career paths. Those who stayed the course and challenged the status quo changed the direction of what we know of as music today.

Innovators cause the world to be in perpetual motion.

I do believe that the desire to pursue the arts as a career should be met with rigorous training and study- etude, for music education bridges the gap for a musician just as a surgeon would never operate a patient without having studied anatomy! This academic approach strengthens one’s aptitude- musicians should therefore enroll into some form of study because ignorance only serves to rob one of talent; a blunt ax in the forest is no good to a lumber jack.

Music education speaks volumes for the professional musician adding value to them and increasing their image as a brand. As the world evolves in all technology and disciplines, so do the arts evolve, making for last year’s inventions obsolete, therefore study is pertinent.

If music influences the whole being of an individual, causes nations to rise and fall and no state function anywhere in the world starts without it, should it not be given more priority in the education system than it currently is?