My last post came with a rather negative undertone, which is why I thought I should swing the pendulum to the other side with this one. That's why I will tell you a bit about the pleasures that come with Music.

The "One Man Band", crown-discipline of playing instruments

I don't remember when I started playing my first instrument. It was perhaps when I was five or six years old that I was holding an instrument in my hands and started doing more with it than just creating random noise and attention.

A good part of my interest in making music was due to three older siblings who were already playing instruments in school and so I totally needed to play an instrument as well. On a practical level it meant that we already had plenty of instruments at home: Guitars, trumpets, a keyboard, a drum, some turntables and other equipment. That, including parents who were supportive and knew how to play and teach instruments themselves.

So, even with my limited talent, I was destined to learn playing pretty much every type of instrument out there and this from early on. I consider myself very lucky in that regard.

The recorder flute; probably the most common beginner instrument

Listening to music is nice, making music yourself is irreplacable

Imagine, you're sitting at a campfire and then there is one scenario with guitar and one without - yes the one with guitar wins and if you're the one who can play a chord or two, you're twice the winner. But it's not just the campfire where making music can make the difference.

Take for instance you're angry. Not sure if that's a mood you're familiar with, but at least I know being angry very well. When still living at home I simply went to the basement, then I took a seat at the drum set and hit the thing as much I could. Do that for 15 minutes and I tell you the world looks much more likeable. It's a bit unfortunate that at my current place, I am a bit limited which is something you probably are as well. But having instruments - or drums to blow off some steam - is quite a thing.

Right now, I only have my keyboard with me and I usually play it silently with my headphones on. The few among you who know who to play the piano probably know that there's a huge difference between a piano (not to speak of a grand one..) and a keyboard. But still, me being able to play the keyboard occasionally is the perfect diversion I need from learning or when I have to make an important decision or when I'm in a bad mood. It just puts me somewhere else.

Perhaps you made the experience yourself that you have the best ideas when doing not what you are supposed to do - or even when sitting on the toilet. Well, sitting at the piano and playing some music has the very same effect - at least for me.

And in case you are into self-optimization, regularly playing instruments is said to be very good for your brain and your coordination. The older we get, the more important is exercise. Looking at old men bringing their entire body into motion may not be the prettiest thing to see, but they are surely very fit - and also really good. And especially Jazz in the sense of improvisation can boost your brain more than anything else.

To me personally, the exercise argument is only a nice side-effect that I'm happy to take, but it's nothing I am specifically looking for.

I'm aiming more at the fun end of things when playing for myself, but also when playing with others. In case you never played in a band or an orchestra, trust me: The players have the most fun. Perhaps this may not count for every band member and every song, but the bottom line is that it's a lot of fun. I mean, you are basically sitting inside the radio and you are part of it. It can't get better than that.

In a band or orchestra, you can have plenty of fun and not just that, orchestras are in their essence also highly complex constructions given the multitude of instruments, people and notes that need to be coordinated. Bringing this into sync and balancing out the single components is very challenging for the conductor, but also for you as a player. A good orchestra needs a very high degree of non-verbal and intuitive coordination. Something, that you can definitively use outside the world of music.

And last but not least, if you have a bit talent you can even make good money with it depending on what you play and where you are playing it. One of my older brothers for instance funded almost his entire trip through Europe by playing the guitar in inner cities. People really seemed to like it and gave him enough so he could travel from one place to the next one. Maybe that is something for you as well - or perhaps you even made your experiences with that.

Just think of how much effort they put into that performance

Should you start playing an instrument?

It's definitively worth trying. Not everyone has talent in playing or the necessary patience to learn it, but not everyone has the talent for running and so people try other sports until they find theirs. It's the same with the world of music. The spectrum of possibilities is so vast that as good as any kind of talent a person can have is covered by some device that starts making sound waves when handling it one way or another. All you have to do is find it and try.

Does an instrument cost a lot? Well, some do as computers can cost a lot. But you get suitable ones that are used or new and affordable. Apart from that, you can always try instruments for free. In some places there are offers from schools, orchestras, music shops or private teachers where you can get a first impression without having to put all your eggs into one basket.

How long does it take until I can play a song? Depending on the simplicity of the song, this can happen relatively fast. Especially the guitar is great for getting far quickly, because you only need four chords to play most modern songs. That may sound strange, but this is actually a thing.

The downside with the guitar is that you also have to sing and not everyone likes that. That's why perhaps the trumpet or the piano might be the better choice for you to begin with. The general thumb rule is that you have to do something one thousand times to gain the know-how. If you think of "one" as one exercise that takes about 5 minutes, then you end up with perhaps 50-100 hours until you know the instrument. Knowing in that case means that you are able to play a new song from a sheet without too many accidents.

This means you have to invest a lot of effort, but where there is effort there will be reward :-)

Question is: Did you learn to play an instrument - still play it? Did I make you curious to learn one? Let me know in the comments!

..not only his first love..

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