The Purpose of My Music

The Purpose of My Music

Every song, 

Every hymn, 

Every spiritual song, 

Every arrangement -

Is played with the ever present thought 

that the listener-

is meditating on GOD'S word, 

or serving God in their calling, 

or needing the Peace that only He can give, 

or possibly so broken and isolated 

that they have no other friend-

but the music and its Message.  

Play it as if that person-

is seeking for a reason 

to live, 

to believe, 

to hope, 

to pray, 

or to find calming of the soul 

to rise from their tear stained floor 

and live another day 

knowing the life they know, 

and desperately yearning for it to be changed. 

It is the Message, 

not the music. 

And music can span depths of the soul 

delivering that Message -

Where words may never reach. 

The Gift of Music

Q: Doc, I am thinking about buying a piano for Christmas and getting lessons for my child.  Does music really help kids grow? 

A:  Absolutely yes.  I am biased in my opinion of musical training, but science clearly justifies my belief. 

Many parents will consider purchasing a piano (or guitar, a few brave ones consider a drum set) at Christmas for their child with visions of Carnegie Hall and beautiful concerts.  Some do this from a secret desire to sneak in a few stealthy attempts at the piano themselves while others genuinely are hoping to introduce the love of music to their child. 

Very few picture the hours (hopefully) of the plunk, plunk, plunk of the same torturous tune the child is trying to master.  Or the Sunday afternoon recital with other well intentioned, Carnegie Hall dreaming parents and their little “Johnny Chased a Dog” song played by their little future world touring pianists.  

Is it worth it?  Absolutely.  Even if they never consider it as a career, the benefits of musical training are continuing to be documented in scientific studies. 

Three studies at the 2013 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting showed that musical training increases the function, and even size of the brain. 

One study from China showed that musical training at a young age increases language skills, memory and cognitive function well into adult years. 

Another study from Canada showed musical training helps students with multisensory processing, meaning an increased ability to notice, process, and act upon multiple stimuli in the environment. 

The third study from Sweden used functional MRI scans to determine that improvisational musicians (those who can create music on the spot) use an area of the brain that is more in the center and not the front.  Essentially, this means the improvisational skills appears to be a learned behaviour and is such a natural function that the musician doesn’t have to think about it.  In short, the belief is creativity can be learned and become second nature.  

Music lessons can be a real chore. Learning the techniques of the instrument including the hand-eye coordination can be frustrating to a child who can pick up an iPad and quickly make music with a few simple swipes of the finger. Learning the timing, notes, pauses, rests, posture - all of this is a real challenge in this modern instant production and gratification world we live in. 

It’s not easy on the teachers, either.  I remember my dear piano teacher, Mrs. Hicks, had to get a cup of coffee and cigarette prior to each of my lessons.  

Purchasing a piano can also be a tricky endeavor.  Pianos have personalities like people.  Some are bright.  Some are reserved. Some are worn out and couldn’t care less.  Others have broken sound boards that make it impossible to keep in tune. 

However, one of the greatest musicians I’ve ever known, Harry Fritts, died this year.  His love of the piano as a child was so great that he made a keyboard out of a grocery bag just to practice on the dinner table when his family was too poor to own a piano. 

He was great as a performer, but he was greater in his ability to motivate and teach others to love and enjoy music. His mind was exquisitely sharp up to the day he died. His funeral was a concert given by the people who learned and loved music because of him.  What a legacy. 

Keep in mind that some of the greatest pianists were self-taught.  Floyd Cramer, Ray Charles, and Scott Joplin quickly come to mind. Some of the best musicians I know personally cannot read a note of music.  People do not flock to their concerts to see them read music. They go to hear them perform music. 

And that is what it is about - learning to love music and to be able to express a person’s unique experiences in life through it, whether it be vocal or instrumental.  

We all have an outlet in life.  For some it is alcohol, television, drugs, computer mesmerisation  or even violence.  For others it is athletics, crafts, golf, writing, gardening and yes, music. 

If you need a scientific reason to purchase a piano for your child, you’ve got it.  If you want a selfish reason to see your child at Carnegie Hall, good luck.  It takes eight to twelve hours a day of practice.  

Remember though, you may be helping your child down the road to a life long love no matter what career they choose. 

Eric J. Littleton, M.D. is a Family Physician in Sevierville, TN.  

Very few medicines are better than exercise.

Glorify Thy Name

There Are Words to Say

There are Words to Say

The day has broke
Who knows what it holds,
Who knows all events we may face-
We hope to live our routines,
Say the usual things
And on our pillows tonight we lay.

Yet, my friend,
Who really knows
What moment may change a day,
Take hold of the infinite,
In the finite you have,
For There are Words to Say.

No one knows,
When death may call
Nor when life will see its last day,
No one knows,
When life will pivot on a second
And silence the words to say.

Reach in your soul,
And let the walls collapse,
Release all fears and pride’s face,
Grasp firm to your heart
And the wonder of Pure Love,
Time’s short -- And there are words to say.

EJL

Morning Has Broken - (Piano Solo) Great Smoky Mountains Fall Sunrise

An Approach to the Piano

Playing with the consistency of a metronome is necessary when communicating or working with other musicians. It, however, is not how the average person, or the person who is just listening for enjoyment, usually measures the music. Each note has the potential of being the one that needs to be savored, enjoyed, thought about, or focused on within a stretched moment. Most people do not know all the words to each song, but they may, however, know the feelings and emotions associated with a particular tune of melody. This is how I hope a person will listen to my music. My hope is that my selection of notes, whether few or many, fast or slow, and the unique placement of them, will bring maybe just one moment of peace, reflection, or encouragement.

So what do legalism and grace have to do with piano music? It is in this light that I see the metronome much like that of the laws of the Old Testament. The laws of the Old Testament provided a guide for living for those who lived by the law. The metronome provides a guide for the musician to play the notes at their time. Yet, by faith in Christ, I live under Grace. I see the metronome and love it as a guide. I love how it gives me a guide of what it is to play a song with exact perfection. Yet I live by a higher standard for something greater than a perfectly lived life can know (Matthew 5:20). Grace has set me free to live my life as a relationship with Christ. In such a way I am free to play the piano with conviction and by faith. As such, I am held to a higher standard. I must be disciplined and not lazy and slack in my faith just as I should be with playing the piano. I must learn from daily work and living so that when faced with opportunities that try my faith or opportunities to perform praise, I am seasoned with a daily walk, ready for the moment.

I also must know that the notes previously carried out with diligence may in fact be wrong if played now just as a note of repetition. It is being lazy to just play to get to another note or point in the music. Every note, every measure, every phrase, every score must be played out of conviction and faith. Maybe it won’t be easy to put on paper so that it can be reproduced later, but neither can the conviction to pick up one’s life and move away from all that is dear to place which causes fear. One moves by faith, one plays by faith, leaving behind the old way, the necessary basic rudimentary actions to a level of spiritual flying. One flies above languages, culture and time into the realm of harmonic stimulation of the mind that reaches deep into the soul causing and isolation from the sources of anxiety and fear and a rejuvenation of what God wants us to always remember: we are not alone or abandoned, nor overwhelmed, just passing through and needing to focus on the One who gives comfort and strength in the irregularities of life, just as in the irregularities of the music.

Piano keys are a lot like people. Each one has a unique personality (tone) and can be either soft and reserved or boisterous and loud. Some notes, as people, just naturally get along or sound better when played together. Others, however, are clearly in conflict with each other no matter what volume is played. In that situation one note may try to be louder in order to dominate the other, but in the end it is just more noise and not music. The only way any music will ever be made is if each note relinquishes any resistance to being played and does not look to become another note it finds more attractive. If then, placed at the hands of the Master, each note is played at the time of necessity and at the appropriate volume, then the music will flow. Even notes with a natural disdain for each other will sound brilliant played together in combination with those before or after, or with a crucial third note which blends them sweetly into the music.

So it is with Christ, I believe. If I relinquish my desire to be heard as an individual, then the music He can make through me will be overwhelming. I am not working with Him. I am not working for Him. My desire is to be His extension of a Master’s control at this spot, this moment, this life, ready to serve in sound...or silence. Whatever His choosing may bring. The music must be as unique as I believe each Christian’s walk with Christ must be unique.

Eric J. Littleton, M.D.