Is Music the Key to Success?

I’ve been thinking a lot on why people always say, “I wish I had kept playing piano,” or “Will you teach me to play?” There comes a time in most lives that they start to reflect on life and what has made a difference and what they wished they could have done. There are tons of articles about having a musical education, and today I just want to reemphasize how certain aspects of music will relate to everyday life. In the article, “Is Music the Key to Success?” Joanne Lipman interviewed multiple people who have extreme influence among the masses. Two of them being Condoleezza Rice, the Secretary of State, and Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve.

One reason why music is so important is because its like “something is pushing you to look beyond what currently exists and express yourself in a new way.” (Paul Allen, Co-founder of Microsoft.) Music builds creativity. It helps you to look at problems and be able to see your way through it. There are so many things from practicing that once you master, you can duplicate in almost any profession.

In the article mentioned above, Mr. Todd (NBC’s Chief White House Correspondent) gives one of my favorite explanations of the benefits of a musical background:

“I’ve always believed the reason I’ve gotten ahead is by outworking other people,” he says. It’s a skill learned by “playing that solo one more time, working on that one little section one more time,” and it translates into “working on something over and over again, or double-checking or triple-checking.” He adds, “There’s nothing like music to teach you that eventually if you work hard enough, it does get better. You see the results.”

Hard work and dedication, such as to a musical instrument, will get you everywhere in life 🙂

You can read the full article here: https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/opinion/sunday/is-music-the-key-to-success.html?_r=0