Music builds community. That’s been the studio tagline for a while now. And it’s true. But yet, when you are playing an instrument like the piano, how exactly are you building community? Many other instruments, like the guitar or flute or most anything else, while it is an individual instrument, there are options to be in community like a band, orchestra or choir. And we’ll get to those.
But let’s say you’re a pianist. How can you be part of a community? The obvious answer is that, sure, you could play piano or keyboard in a band. You could accompany a choir or other instrumentalists. But in the broader pantheon of music, whether you’re a pianist or you play another instrument, There is a broader community called musicians.
As a musician, you speak a language not everyone knows. For example, if you speak German and you’re in Russia, that makes things a little difficult, doesn’t it? So you seek other German speakers and you’ve found your community and your place. As musicians, yes, we’re speaking a language different than others around us. So where do we seek out community? We seek out other musicians.
Yes, there are other non-performing musicians who listen to music and can talk about their favorite songs or instruments. But as musicians, we have experience with the instrument that not many others have. I can tell you what it’s like to have a cold trumpet mouthpiece against your lips while playing outside for a football game in November, because I’ve done it! Other trumpet players would understand. Or to play a piano with a sticking or out of tune note. Other pianists would understand and other musicians could empathize, because they may have had experiences with a sticking key or an out of tune string or whatever the case may be.
The concept of community is great and all, but how do you find a community of musicians, if you’re not in one at the moment? That’s the challenge, isn’t it? I’m not the biggest fan of social media, but there are communities of musicians out there, whether it’s a broad group, or your state, region or city. Or, if there’s a local music store, go there and start talking to people! Not just randomly talking to strangers, but you could look and see if they have a bulletin board and you could search that and see what you could find.
There are challenges to finding and building community, but it’s absolutely beneficial for encouragement, ideas, support and so much more. It’s worth the effort to find that community. If you are already in that community of musicians in your area, how are you reaching out to include others in your community?
Comment with ways that you’ve found or created a community of musicians!