To All You Musicians

To all you musicians out there. I just wanted to share some words from Scott Tennant of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet and the author of Pumping Nylon, A Classical Guitarist's Technique Handbook. He writes in the conclusion to Pumping Nylon: "Music is the most powerful of all the arts. It instantly stirs up emotions, conjures visions, and offers glimpses of other, higher dimensions. It arouses men to battle; kindles amorous passions in lovers; soothes a baby to sleep; comforts us when we grieve. It engages our hearts and our minds, and can bring out the best that we are. One can safely presume that not a single emotion, nor any human or natural event, has been left undocumented by music.

As musicians, our objective is to command the elements of music as best we can in order to tap into that other dimension. It is our access to heaven, if only for a while. But while we are there we can take all who are listening with us. If just one person is uplifted by our playing and walks away feeling better than before he came, we have made a difference. A healing has taken place.

I very much hope....that you do not lose sight of the larger goals: to be able to express yourself freely on your instrument and to turn every note you play into great music. When you can do these things, you cease to be just a guitar player and become a healer and magician."

Play on Musicians! Music can change the world!