DIY Music

I've been thinking a lot lately about the culture of music and musicians, and how distinct the line seems to have become over the decades between those who play an instrument and those who don't. Time was that everyone and his sister played something, mainly because the array of entertainment options available didn't yet include many passive activities like TV, so hobbies that involved actual skill were still something people considered fun.

But these days, when someone I've just met asks what I do for a living, the response I get is either a glazed look, or an enthusiastic endorsement of my career choice, followed by a timid admission that the questioner also once played some instrument or other, back in school, but hasn't picked it up in years. The obvious implication is that, if you aren't a full-fledged musical expert, you can't possibly hope to really tap into the culture of musical performance, and that's just sad, because it's so untrue, and so antithetical to what the arts are supposed to be about.

Consider, for example, what's happened with the culture of food and cooking over the last decade or so. Where once Americans drew a bright, shining line between those who cook fancy, upscale food for a living, and those of us who dump slop out of a can and heat it up in the microwave, "real" home cooking has made an astonishing comeback, and restaurants and professional chefs have benefitted immeasurably as a result. Say what you want about the Food Network, but that little marvel of cable niche programming (along with many other influences, of course,) has brought a New York level of foodie sophistication to countless smaller American cities, and allowed even the humblest of home cooks to toss around terms like "julienne" and "gazpacho" without feeling like a snooty wannabe.

Then think about what the internet, that most reviled of all cultural levelers, has done for the world of reading and writing. Yes, a lot of the junk that you can read online isn't really worth anyone's time, and yes, many of the people who write online seem to need a serious remedial-level English course, but that's not the point. After decades of decline in the number of Americans who bother with words at all, ordinary people are reading and writing again in huge numbers! And that can't be anything but good for those who write for a living.

So that brings us back to music. The online world has led to an explosion of renewed interest in listening to music (if not paying for it,) but for classical music, which is so dependent on the devotion of listeners who really understand the little interactions and turns of phrase going on during a performance, we desperately need to rekindle a culture of amateur interest in not only listening to what we do, but playing the music oneself. There are pockets of amateur musicians around the country who still get together to read quartets or four-hand piano arrangements, but they're few and far between, and for most of the population, musical instruments have become relics of childhood, something fun you did in junior high, but nothing you'd ever consider pursuing into adulthood.

So what about it? When's the last time you picked up your old clarinet or trombone? Do you think you appreciate music more because you once knew how to play it yourself? And if so, why'd you stop? What would it take to get you to start up again? And what can those of us who do this stuff for a living do to help break down the barrier between we as professional performers and you as potential amateur ones?