Growing with Others
When I began my musical journey at age 10, I was fortunate to be surrounded by friends who were doing the same thing I was. Being a musician can be an extremely isolating lifestyle with little reference to how you are actually growing. Some of the best advice I can give to young students is to find people their age who are playing an instrument.
This discovery helps to motivate both sides to become better players. My best friend would show up to school the next day and say, “Dude, I learned how to play Master of Puppets yesterday!” I would then feel motivated to learn the same song so we could play it together, which is what we often did. My first “band” played at our middle school on the last day of 8th grade, and we didn’t stop performing together all the way through to high school.
It may seem like it doesn’t matter, but I can’t imagine where I’d be if I had never had these experiences growing up. This doesn’t mean that one can’t grow on their own Many musicians have fantastic careers as soloists, but playing with others is just way more exciting in my opinion.
Jeffery Dunn, B.M., Guitar Instructor
