photo credit | jerjones |morguefile.com
Music is a passion of mine. Learning it and creating it has been a major part of my life since my first piano lesson in second grade when Mrs. Croker taught me the black notes using the song “Peanut Butter and Jam.” From the Broadway tunes I grew up singing to the moments of meaningful worship in church, I have always pursued music. Now, as a part of my vocation, I get to lead a group of committed people in using music to worship. It’s an awesome privilege!
Yet, if you’ve been involved in music for any length of time, you know that along with the times of inspiration come the challenges of planning a schedule, finding music for your musicians, balancing budgets, organizing rehearsals, rehearsing the music, and then executing well. No matter how much you love what you do, there are times of simply grinding it out.
What keeps a musician going when the notes become blah and the schedule becomes repetitive?
I believe the magic of creating music is in creating moments.
I believe the magic of creating music is in creating moments. Have you ever considered how much of our time as musicians is consumed in creating moments? We plan and rehearse for months in order to present a Christmas musical one, two, maybe three times. We find the perfect choir song, order it, label it, give it to the choir and instrumentalists, rehearse, rehearse, and rehearse it. Then, in the flash of a few minutes, present it, and it’s done. We practice for hours that piano piece, and, in a few minutes, it’s over.
Music people work hard to create moments. Whether it’s a piano piece for a concert, a violin part in a string quartet, or a vocal part for a choral gala, your work is always moving toward moments. You wouldn’t work so hard if you didn’t care about creating moments.
So, what keeps you going when you’re grinding it out in the practice room, fighting that obstinate fingering, or when you’re on the phone lining up another musician for a rehearsal? What keeps you pursuing it?
If it were only in creating moments, we should all quit, because here’s where “creating moments” fails. If the moments are mere moments and nothing more, than put the bow back in the case. Moments don’t last. They’re here and gone.
There needs to be something more.
The magic is not only in creating moments but in creating moments with lasting impact.
We want the song to impact the mind and the emotions. We want our messages as musicians to get into people and not leave them. You want your song to create a moment when people are connected to the emotion and meaning of the song and leave changed by it.
As a Christian, I believe that the most lasting impact is made by songs that tell about Jesus and His death for our sins. That’s why I do what I do. I make the schedules, call the practices, and do it all over because I want to create moments.
Moments with lasting impact.
How have musical moments made a lasting impact on you? What songs have made a lasting impact on you? How have you seen your music make moments with lasting impact. Comment below.