Do You Suffer from the 5 Symptoms of Musical Depression?
Every now and then, we tend to loose control over that which we love: music. That may be our playing habits, our iTunes library or a simple feeling of discontent with your own “Musicianeering”.
I think I’ve suffered a deep form of musical illness recently and found a certain list of symptoms to look out for:
1. Not listening enough
I have a an iTunes library that I recently purged to less than 500 tracks. Last week, I listened to a total of about 1 hour’s worth of music. Terrible! Listen to more music by planning focused sessions. Don’t rely on “Oh, I’ll turn on some music while I work through this or read that”. Plan in “Listen to Music” in your daily paper agenda.
2. Lesson Deprivation
I haven’t had a guitar lesson in over 4 weeks! It’s driving me nuts, and I’m getting nowhere. My playing is aimless and I’m starting to swerve off track. Why is this? Well, with college and a stupid schedule, plus the fact that my teacher lives 2 train hours away from college, finding a time that works is hard. And we haven’t succeeded yet.
Possibly time for a change of teacher?
3. Aimless practice
The last symptom is linked to this one, and it’s obvious: You are musically ill if your practicing seems overwhelming and pointless. You have 7 technique exercises you need to be doing, 4 pieces and 12 studies in all scales to master. Chaos.
4. No other musicians
One important part of being a good musician is to hang out with other (ideally good) musicians. Music can be a wonderful thing for loners, but musical culture is a community-driven thing. Play in a band or orchestra and exchange with others - it helps you develop yourself and keeps you motivated. Plus I just dang enjoy hanging out with the bassists. Bassists rock.
5. Songwriter aspirations
Sometimes I found myself asking “Why don’t I have a band?” and began feeling bad about wasted years and no musical friends to play with. Often I also wanted to compose and publicly play my music but of course, I’m not on American Idol. I think this “I want to be a songwriter” symptom is common, and the best way around it is to first play existing music to inspire you, and to also give you a solid basis for creating your own music. You have the ideas, maybe it’s just the tools that are rusty or inexistent.
Musical Depression, my self-coined illness, is probably what I’ll suffer from more often if I don’t pursue music as a profession. Right now I’m seriously asking myself whether going to Business School was the right choice. What do you think?
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POSTED IN: Your Instrument & You
3 opinions for Do You Suffer from the 5 Symptoms of Musical Depression?
Pianologist
Sep 23, 2007 at 10:57 pm
I found myself stagnant for quite some times already. I feel guilty that I hadn’t improve any of my musician skill for the last few years.
Is it an excuse that I spend most of the time for my full time work, and also my family?
Latoria
Nov 7, 2007 at 2:47 pm
I think you should really pursue music as a career. I am going through the same thing and I know you won’t be completely satisfied unless you profession directly correlates with your natural talents, that way, you feel you have a purpose and that you are not just going through the motions!! Rock on!!!! Don’t be a stranger, let me know how things are going!!!
Shreyashi Ganguly
Dec 17, 2007 at 4:19 pm
I had been active in the music scene [both classical/ metal] for quite a while as a vocalist before i kind of gave it up because of i took up medicine. however, i never stopped listening to music, actively seeking recommendations all the way. We shoudln’t hit that benchmark where we are bored with our collections. Always have something new to hear, something different to analyse… it can be while you are doing everyday work [i do it throughout the day] but you can also set aside a set time.
Change is the key, we must adapt, to stop from caving in.
Have fun :)
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