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your convictions of who or what that “Supreme Being” might be, it is a fact that music has the ability to touch that magical place in all of us. If we surround ourselves with music, we can maintain an awakened connection to that part of our being.

Scholars of aesthetics will tell you that music has the power to move your consciousness into a state where time stops and imagination begins. I truly believe that music is one of the most powerful forces in the universe. Friedrich Nietzsche believed that music was one of the arts that sharpens our senses and gives meaning to life. The facts confirm that. Studying music and learning to sing or play an instrument have great mental and spiritual rewards. Music educators know these rewards well. The clarity of mind and sense of passion that I experience when playing my horn or conducting music propels my conviction that music needs to be an essential part of the school’s curriculum and of our daily lives.

To teach music, you have to feel music. Let me recommend that, in your pursuit to become music educators, you include a pursuit to become a true artist on your instrument so that, when you become teachers, you can encourage practicing because you understand what practicing is and so that, when you teach, you are able to convey the highest levels of artistry to your students. I teach music because I love music and interacting with others. I would like to leave you with a message from Kenny Werner’s book Effortless Mastery:

“Sow an act, reap a habit, Sow a habit, reap a character, Sow a character, reap a destiny.”