I often think of how similar playing music is to other professions that involve performing. Sports is particularly analogous. Think about how many people would love to be making millions of dollars playing third base for a major league team—pick a team, any team. The competition for that spot is otherworldly. While there are many capable third basemen playing baseball—professional, college, I’ve even seen some fine glove and bat work by weekend warriors on sandlot teams—only a tiny percentage of them will ever play major leagure baseball. Then consider all the capable musicians; they are in every town across America and around the world. Everywhere you will find wonderful music being played by skilled musicians. And like third basemen, few will ever achieve celebrity status. That is, in fact, the theme of my novel The Musician.
It is said that the hardest thing to do in sports is to hit a round ball with a round bat. And hitting is just one of the things you have to master to be a good ballplayer. Same is true with learning to play music. It’s hard, takes years of learning and practice to get good at it, good enough to earn a living playing music. And it requires mastering several skills. For example, to play piano you must master melody, harmony, and rhythm.
Playing well requires ongoing commitment. Just like sports, you have to work on your skills repeatedly just to maintain them, much less get better. And, like athletic endeavors, nobody ever achieves perfection. The better you get, the more you realize there is room for improvement, more to learn.
Of course, you don’t have to commit to making a living playing music to enjoy learning it well enough to play well, for others or just yourself. Playing music provides a unique joy, a feeling and gratification unachievable through any other avenue. It is a thing of beauty to master an instrument, including your voice. And as we all know, a thing of beauty is a joy forever.