While learning and performing other disciplines may be fulfilling to an individual, there is always the aspect of a gap felt by the learner performers because most of the disciplines that a person may encounter focus on the development of one skill or talent and thus a person may feel unsatisfied and incomplete by the whole experience.
Intrinsically, humans love experiences that engage a person’s mind, heart, soul and body while at the same time help nurturing and developing the cognitive, social and personal competencies of that person.
However music has been found to be fulfilling because it engages a person’s multiple abilities and skills. While performing a piece of music, there is an integration of multiple abilities such as tonality, hands & eye coordination, symbol recognition and interpretation rhythm as well as other abilities all which act to represent synthetic aspects of human intelligence thus making the whole experience fulfilling.
When working with a music band, there’s a reinforcement of skills cooperation and coordination which is a characteristic associated with team work execution and emphasized in many disciplines today. There is the aspect of group efforts in a music band which focuses on working cooperatively towards the achievement of shared goals and objectives in every performance which is held.
Initially, this website belong to a Canadian musician called Nicholas Williams who is a Flute player based in Montréal, Canada; plays Celtic, Québecois, Indian, and other music on wooden and bamboo flutes.
He has a music CD called The Crooked River and some of his top tracks form the CD include Crazyeyed Reels, The dolphin and First Frost.
Currently he is a member of Crowfoot band which comprises Jaige Trudel, USA, Adam Broome, England and him. Nick met these other musicians at a festival in Boston, USA in 2003.
The trio of acoustic musicians is loved for their creativity, and their great accompaniment of the flute, fiddle, guitar, accordion and piano which they use to play all night to the merriment of fans and dancers.
This website includes several posts and information on how to become a musician, what it’s like to be a music performer, stories of individuals, etc.
I’ve played guitar for many years now, and at 30, I considered myself a decent player. My biggest learning and practice years were in high school, where I played around the clock. Just like any typical guy in his teens and twenties. Back then, I listened to bands on the radio, but never thought I could be in one.
I was content just to play my guitar and get better at switching in between chords, gradually working on my technical skills. All I wanted to do was cover a few Beatles songs and be able to read music, but I ended up going farther and really enjoying playing.
I never thought I could be in a band, particularly once I got married and became a dad. However, daughter was about four years old when a friend asked me if I wanted to be in a band he was putting together.
My friend Nick was bored and looking for an outlet on the side, some hobby that he and others would find fun and also a good way to socialize and let off steam after a long day working and parenting. I needed the outlet and had always loved music and playing, so I said that I’d be happy to be that guitarist that completed the bunch.
Nick said this was great as he already had the drummer lined up (Larry), he could play the keyboards, and he already had a good friend in idea for the bassist position (a fun Japanese-American accountant named Haruko). So, together, we formed our band. We all met up for the first night at Nick’s, then moved everything to the garage to have a jam session. Nick brought in a table so we could put our stemless glasses of red wine down. Well, Larry had a Jack and Coke, but the rest of us had some of the random beer Nick had offered. We set up our instruments and started toying around with them.
Nick asked us what we should call ourselves. Larry wanted something grungy, something hard rock. Haruko suggested innocuous names, mostly based off cars. Nick wanted something related to our male status, and me? I just wanted something that didn’t sound dumb. Since we couldn’t agree, we all threw one name into a hat. As a result, our band was now named The Scorpions. Thank you, Nick. But it was a fun name, and the more beer we drank, the more we liked it.
When I got home that night, I examined my figure in the mirror. I certainly didn’t look like my vision of a rock star. The rockers I was used to were mainly Kiss, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, and Queen. I practiced slinging my guitar around my back. The fat on my arms swung with it. I sighed. This was definitely no good. Didn’t the Scorpions know I was overweight and out of shape? That I was too pudgy to be a rock star?
Well, we ended up practicing once a week on Saturday evenings at Nick’s. Larry brought fattening plain chips and dip, and I brought veggie platters. Larry brought Twinkies and Ho Hos, and I brought cheap beer. Nick brought out three different big bags of chips. I brought deluxe pizza. But then a funny thing happened: I started noticing that my arms looked more toned, that my body was more fit than I remembered it being. I asked Nick, and he said, “You didn’t know that jamming in a band burns calories like crazy?”. I said I didn’t, and then we high fived.
We finally got a gig in September, as the band for Larry’s grandmother’s breast cancer awareness charity event. It was a pretty decent crowd of 500. We played covers of Kiss, of Elton John, even of David Bowie. It was a fun night, and we sweated like crazy from all the heat inside (and generated by playing). The Scorpions got several more gigs after that, and they were all fun. It’s been one year since our band got started.
Not only am I down in pants sizes from a 32 to a 13, but I feel great too. I used to eat whatever, but now I eat for health. All those healthy snacks and other ways to lose belly weight I brought to practice inspired me to eat less unprocessed foods, and more foods that would nourish me.
It wasn’t a magic cure, but I still can’t believe being in a band helped me lose weight and be healthy once more. It must be all that moving and grooving! More than that, I’ve found a whole new side of myself and a brand new respect for my health, body, and what I eat. I’m the healthiest I’ve ever been, and it’s all thanks to being in a band that I never would have had the courage to form on my own. Thanks Nick!
I’ve lost weight and feel awesome. So if you get the urge to join a band, male or female, I’d say do it! It’s changed my life and made me more engaged with my own state of mind (and body). Rock on!
