Thoughts on Music

The “Mozart Effect” is the hypothesis that listening to music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart may temporarily improve performance on certain spatial-reasoning tasks. While scientists are still researching how far-reaching the implications are to this effect, many people...

In life, as in music, there is always a certain degree of conflict.  What one does with that conflict, how one responds, makes all the difference! At our music school in Midland, Texas we believe that music is more than sound, it is relationships. What is good book or...

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, but the beautiful moments in music seem to transcend cultural differences.  Some say that music is the ‘universal language.’   That may be true.  Perhaps a better way of saying it would be that emotion is the universal language. ...

There are few life-skills as important as learning to listen well.  The old axiom, “God gave us one mouth and two ears, so we should be listening twice as much as we speak” has more value than we probably realize.   All of us like to be heard, yet being heard is...

There are many benefits to studying music, and among the top life-lessons is that of personal discipline. The overarching concept in life is that everything rises and falls on leadership. And the first rule of leadership is to lead one’s self well. When we provide...

Learning to work together is one of life’s most challenging and rewarding efforts, and music offers many opportunities to develop in this highly important life-skill. Let’s face it, working with others is not always easy.  Everyone has a different opinion, based upon...

There are a lot of factors that are happening simultaneously when playing music, both internally as well as externally. When playing or singing in ensembles, the musician must be aware, not only of his or her own contribution to the group, but also of their section,...

An amazing benefit to studying music is growth in the ability to focus.  At our music school in Midland, Texas, we help our students grow in their capacity to do this. When I begin to think about what the concept of focusing is, two prevailing thoughts come to my...

When we use the term ‘stage presence,’ it is generally regarded as a quality of a performer to connect to the audience. Most people sitting in a concert or watching a show don’t know why, they just like the person performing. Whether or not, behind the scenes, the...

The benefits of studying music are far-reaching, perhaps more than most realize. As stated in earlier chapters, music is an intangible and therefore is difficult to quantify in any regard. The benefits may seem anecdotal but when discussing the subject, most people...