Why do we do what we do?

An editorial from the former band president

Members of the Diamond State Concert Band spend considerable time and effort to paticipate. Why? I've been a member of the band for 25 years. Why have I kept coming all that time? Why have I spent money on a musical instrument?

The answer is simple, and it is infinitely complex. Simply put, I enjoy it, and it does wonderful things for me. In more complex terms, we can look at what some experts have said. In an article in the October 28, 2001 issue of USA Weekend, there is an interesting discussion of the incredible effects that music can have on the brain.

Here's an interesting article in the Baltimore Sun about a man who's retiring from a small-town community band after 68 years as a member!

MSNBC recently published an interesting article on some of the neurological effects that musicians experience when they hear the kinds of music that give them "the chills." (Sorry... As of April 2002, the article is no longer on their site.)

During a recent rehearsal, I noticed the same kind of effect that MSNBC reported. I play tuba, and it's a rare treat to get to play a really exposed part, something that the audience is really going to notice. In a piece we'd been rehearsing for an upcoming concert, there's a relatively short passage where Phil, our noble director, wants every scrap of sound we in the tuba section can produce. It's a passage that just fits beautifully with the other stuff going on, and it gives me goose-bumps. I even get goose-bumps just thinking about it!

In early 2001, the American Recorder Society's newsletter published a fascinating article on music and its effects on us. With their permission, the article is reproduced here.

On a more personal level, consider something I went through about 18 months before I joined DSCB. In the fall of 1981, my first wife and I separated. At the time, I was a member of the Quakertown Band, in Quakertown, Pennsylvania. I can remember weeks when the only time I felt really good was during a band rehearsal. I might leave the band hall and feel the pain hit me as I walked out the door, but I knew that I'd be back the next week for another two hours of feeling good.

Why do we do what we do? Why spend all the time, effort, and expense? Because it's very soul-satisfying. Because it's good for us. Because we feel good after we spend our time in rehearsal. Because we feel really great if we can bring smiles to the faces of the folks in our audiences. Because, in all the wide world, there's just nothing like it!

Yours in music,

Thom