MUSIC EDUCATION MAKES A GOOD LISTENER

From flutophone to virtuoso, music education is an essential subject.

One online expert said there are two kinds of music: easy and impossible.

They finished with: The path between them is called practice.

My parents had a piano on the house growing up. It was more decorative than functional. My mom knew one song, someone else figured out chop sticks. One kid played a blues boogie with one hand.

No piano lessons for Christmas or birthdays, no Tiger Mom pushing their kids until they hated music, but later in life give thanks. None of that in my house, just eighty-eight keys of mystery.

Music education quizz: Is a piano a percussion instrument or a string instrument?

Handmade Music

A piano is a two handed instrument. So is a guitar, banjo, violin, mandolin, and most every stringed instrument.

Two hands on the strings, one at the fretboard, one at the sound hole.

Brass is another story with two hands and a pair of lips to blow with. Breathing is key. Kenny G said his skill at long notes came from circular breathing.

The lesson given on how to do it sounds like instructions on how to accomplish the French inhale on a Gauloises cigarette.

No matter the instrument, breathing is a constant. It’s part of the rhythm and beat. From saxophone to flute to sitar, the flow of air transports the sound.

Music And Marijuana

I’ve read about the benefits of a long, slow, breath in and out. Maybe you’ve seen the same research. A long, slow, breath tells your body it’s safe. Instead of a fight or flight response, the message is, “Relax, man.”

A deliberately long and slow inhale and exhale addresses anxiety and stress, according to Harvard Medical School.

Read what people say about the Alexander Technique.

Breath control is self control, which leads to other breathing questions. For instance:

If a long, slow, breath is relaxing, and smoking weed includes long, slow, breaths, is it twice as relaxing? Look around at a bunch of stoners before you decided. They always look relaxed to the max.

Before you run off to buy a new bong, vape pen, or pre-rolled joints; before you get medically blazed before watching Woodstock The Movie, take a long, slow, breath.

During my marathon days we trained on LSD. No, not the brain melting LSD. Marathon training included Long, Slow, Distance runs.

What is it about slowing down to speed up? Take a long, slow, breath before answering in comments.