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Music

Job, play, recreation. They are all the same when you can center your life around music. Mostly I think, because music always involves other people, so it is inherently a social activity.

At work, I see my fair share of singers. It is great to take an impaired voice and return it to a usable, productive musical voice again. (Now if you can’t sing before your vocal injury, you’re not going to be able to sing afterwards.) My job is a bit like sportsmedicine for the vocal athlete at times.

I do unfortunately spend time in the car commuting, when I cannot be on my bike. However, after discovering the audio tapes of Robert Greenburg, I almost look forward to the commute. I have digested “How to Listen to and Understand Great Music” and “How to Listen to and Understand Opera” so far. Mr. Greenburg makes the history of music come alive.

Earlier this year I read the book Galileo’s Daughter. Besides finding much of Galileo’s experience similar to mine in the halls of academia, demonstrating even 400 years won’t change some things, I learned his father was a musician.

Music has evolved quite a bit over time and it will be different in the future. As I have gained an understanding of the evolution of various types of music, my wallet has gotten lighter. Everyday Music, has an entire store dedicated to classical music where you may find me on the occasional evening - and it is just down the street from my office.

This autumn, I showed up at church and took the girls up to their new activity, choir. Well, there was no piano accompanist, so I put my fingers to work and played the right hand melody. Now that challenge, to get a piece of music together each month to play for the children’s choir (in front of a lot of people) has spurred my practice like nothing else. Actually, anytime I have begun playing music with other people (piano and guitar in a rock band in high school, hammer dulcimer in an old time string band in medical school and irish sessions here in Portland) my playing has improved tremendously. Now that I am practicing twice a day, piano playing is a blast. Its hard to get enough music!