Music

Something which I have always done is been in bands, with friends and with colleagues, ever since I was in high school. As a guitar player I have never been on my way to stardom, but I have always enjoyed playing with people and in front of people. This is something which many musicians, amateur musicians at least, are a little fearful of, but the benefits are just so great that you should do all you can to try and join a band, regardless of how good or bad you think you are. Currently I am in a cool little rockabilly trip called the Owen Group ( because there are 2 Owens in the band) and we have a great time each week playing in a local bar. If you aren’t sure whether or not this is for you, here is why I’d recommend that you make a band with your friends or people you know.

Improvement

It is all well and good sitting in your room practicing the bass guitar or the drums, but the truth is that you don’t know how good you really are until you start practicing with other people. n fat I have alway preferred playing with people who are better than myself, because as uncomfortable as it can feel, you improve greatly when you do so. Playing with people gives you a far better understanding of how to play a song, how to manage timing and how to read the cues which others give you. I am most certainly a better guitar player when I play in a group with others.

New Music

Normally when I join bands there is a group of people with different musical tastes and we generally try to play songs which everyone in the band likes. This is something which I really enjoy and learning to play new genres and styles can really add something to your playing. In fact I have discovered many bands that I love to listen to because my bandmates have suggested that we play a song by them.

Camaraderie

There is a very special feeling about being in a band and you feel like this united team, something which I have always really enjoyed. If you are in a band with friends then you will certainly become better friends as a result, despite the occasional in-band fight. If you aren’t friends with those who you are playing with then it will not take long before you are, and this is a great way to bond with people.

Play More Music

When I am not in a band I find that I play much less than when I am in the band, and in truth this is one of the reasons why I dislike being out of a band for any period of time.

If you love music and you love playing your instrument, I would urge you to get involved in a band and just see what you can do.

 

I always felt as though my music taste was pretty eclectic but when I met Bogoljub Karic at college I realized what eclectic really meant. We bonded over music and then he started to introduce me to all kinds of music from French rappers to Indian bangra music. Thanks to his influence I now listen to a wide range of music from around the world and whilst some are put off by the foreign language in the lyrics, here is why you should ignore that and give some world music a try.

Only the Half of It

We all love a lyric which we can sing along to but it is important to remember that music isn’t just about the lyrics. The thing that makes us feel good about the music is the rhythm, the melody and the musicianship of the song, not always the lyrics. It is after all why many people like electronic music, which focus on the musicality of it rather than the lyrics. It is for this reason that you don’t always need to know what they are saying in the lyrics, you can still enjoy a song without them.

Learning

Music from around the world uses different styles and different instruments which can really help you to develop a deeper understanding of music. For example many African styles are heavy on the drums and the bass sounds, they use the voices in many different ways, completely different to what we hear on the radio. The same goes for Indian music, many strange instruments and vocal sounds which can open your ears and mind up to new ways of making music. If you take something like Graceland by Paul Simon, one of the world’s most famous albums, he heavily used the African influence and although people had no idea what Ladysmith Black Mambazo were saying, they still dug it because it sounded great. Even going back to the Beatles, they were heavily influenced by many different pieces of world music which they incorporated into their own music.

Accessible

The thing which you have to remember is that world music is more accessible than ever before. You can get straight online and find music from Korea, Zimbabwe, Poland, Ecuador and just about every nation in the world. You don’t need to spend money on this as you can watch videos on YouTube or listen on sites like Spotify. The key is that you give it a try and see what you like and what you don’t.

For many years the world has been listening to heavily rotated English language music, and they have fallen in love with many bands. There is no reason therefore that you are not going to fall in love with a band from another country, it is the same situation in reverse. Give it a try, open your mind and you will be pleased with what you find.