The Whole Musician
The Multi-Sensory Guide to Practice,Performance and Pedagogy
Possibilities and Promises
If you are a musician reading this book, you will probably find something of yourself here. If you are an educator, a music director, a conductor, or any title that causes you to interact with musicians, either amateur or professional, you will find somebody you know in this book, maybe even yourself. Just take a moment to think back over your own years of training. As your training progressed, did you have any difficulties? Or are you the person I’ve been seeking who had the perfect musician’s life, born with gifts in full bloom, no unseen obstacles, adored and recognized, fulfilled…?
Most of us will respond to the pondering by dragging up something not so nice, or maybe even awful. It isn’t because your teachers were uncaring.
Read more: Possibilities and Promises
Ignore Stress at your own risk
Given this solid evidence of the effect of neuropeptides on our overall health, musicians of all professions would do well to give as much attention to our physical and emotional health as we do to our craft. The high levels of stress that come with performing, teaching, and seeking employment all contribute greatly to our overall health or lack thereof.
There is new hope for aging neurons.
There is controversy over how long neurons continue to increase in number. Some research shows only during infancy, other shows up to age six. Studies (2002) indicate that, in fact, there is evidence that neurons can increase throughout a human’s life if new learning challenges are presented which necessitate greater neuronal support.