Sometimes (and recently) I wonder why people study music from a very early age. I know that probably there is no a concrete answer for that question, but I imagine when we are kids, we intrinsically feel the need of expressing ourselves in a deeper way, and somehow we melt with Art. I can also see many good things and aspect of studying music from a very early age, such as the development of the creativity, a bigger imagination and self-discipline. Nevertheless, and from my personal point of view (I have been studying music since I was 4), I would like to state a different approach regarding self-development and being a professional musician. Lately, I have been thinking about the amount of years that I have been studying music (definitely, a lot!), and a deeper question started to pop up in my mind: Am I able to define myself, Antoine, without my musical instrument?

Again, I confirm the fact that it is very important to learn music because it brings many good things to your life and your growth. Directly or indirectly, thanks to music I have establish some of the most important achievements in my life, such as a successful career (but looking for a decent job at the moment), deep friendship, amazing places where I have lived and visited, languages to learn, and so on. From a relatively early age I knew I wanted to become a professional musician, and that decision I made was, for sure, one of the biggest choices for my life path. However, I have been so close to my saxophone that it has accompanied me through all the steps in my life (even when I was on holidays…). I also imagine that’s the way that many of my musician friends and colleagues felt their relation with their musical instrument.

I wanted to share with all of you a little story which probably some of you already know it. I follow an incredible youtuber called Adriana Coines, and her youtube channel called “Minimalistamente”. Her youtube channel shares the idea of minimalism, and all the positive aspects it brings to life in general. Besides the fact of her successful channel, in some videos she has talked about her past. I will leave her youtube Chanel down below (from minute 5:15 she speaks about what I say, but unfortunately it is only in Spanish…), but I just want to highlight that she actually is a professional musician, she has been studying music forever and she had a job in a symphony orchestra in Germany. One day, she left her violin position and she started doing something fulfilling and meaningful for her. She was telling that she was always identified with her violin, and also as a musician. I am one hundred percent sure that her decision was totally right, because now she holds this fantastic youtube Chanel and she is happier. Nevertheless, I think the question of defining ourselves without our musical instrument, is a really good exercise to value ourselves more and better and to value who we are as a human being, to highlight our personal qualities and to be conscious of what we need at any moment.

I hope we can put in common some thoughts or any kind of critical reflection you may have about this topic. I am curious to know if this idea has already been thought among the community of professional and/or amateur musicians. Please, feel free to comment and share your ideas. In this blog there is mainly place for both doubt and reflection.