I truly believe that music is for everyone. As a participant one can play music, listen to music and enjoy music on their own terms. The amount of times I have been told by people that “I don’t have a musical bone in my body”, or “I’m tone deaf” is pretty incredible in light of this. It seems to be in the culture that music is a privileged art or only for a select few. Having taught musicians for many years, I really believe that it is possible for anyone to engage musically if they have the desire and work ethic to do so. It’s certainly more natural for some than others but this can be overcome with a good teacher and practice regime. I’ve also found myself almost in the place of a psychologist or counsellor, working through some toxic words spoken over my student when they were younger or beliefs they have taken on about themselves or the world around them. Music is deep and forces us to confront those things directly, and even express them outwardly in a way that others can experience or empathise with too.

If you have music on your heart, please do play it out.