Is Music the Career for Me?

Uh, yeah. Of course - it's what I'm being paid to do right now, isn't it?

I couldn't imaging myself doing anything else, even in music. Every year, as those Idol shows come on - I watch the wannabe contestants and wonder - "could I do that? I could pwn those n00bs in music". The glamour, the attention, the opportunity to get better while performing for thousands- it's pretty attractive. What better reason to buy new gear? "Honey, I'm a professional performing musician - I NEED that stuff".

I then think of having to explain why my manager wants me to tour 5-6 days each week, or to be away for months at a time. I'd probably be home long enough in a stint to kiss my wife and son, maybe sire another child that I wouldn't be home long enough to father. With those thoughts, I can appreciate my ability to be a professional musician on a different level.

As a teacher, I get to travel (band trips), work with music every day, and to be the guru to thousands of students over my career. Yes, I get to share what I feel is my gift for music with all of you. If that weren't enough, I get to stay at home most of the time, and spend time with my loving wife and son, and I get the summers to catch up with extended family and to devote more time to my next passions - gaming and playing in my band.

Am I famous? Maybe only to you. But that's enough for me. And - I get my daily ration of music of all sorts. Sounds good to me!

My Least Favorite Things

This may be the easiest blog for me to date, for there is precious little that I don't love in music.  That said, where there is love for much, what is lost on the unloved is tremendous; in plainspeak, what I don't love, I loathe deeply.

I can muster respect for anyone who puts passion into their work, regardless of genre, talent, or quality.  Somebody who puts their guts into their music is making true music in my view, whether I like it or not.  Groups like Coheed and Cambria, while unpolished in many ways, show tremendous talent and heart that transcends their lack of specific musical knowledge.  Listen to Travis Stever's solo on Gravemakers and Gunslingers - clearly in the wrong key, but played with such passion, musicality, and commitment that it's hard to care.

I feel the same way about the students I teach - put in that effort, that passion, and it will overcome any disparity of knowledge.  Guts count far more than brains in the music I listen to, probably why I choose Beethoven over Bach any day.

With all of that blogged, who is it then, that I like the least?  People who are either 1) uncommitted, or 2) in it for the money.  The ones in it for the money are plastered all over tabloids and often MTV as well.  They clearly want all of the attention they can get, through whatever means necessary.  

I won't judge Lizzy McGwire/Hillary Duff/Duffy based on what I see as a lack of talent, but here's a woman who clearly has a marketing machine behind her.  I've seen her in Disney, in Shape Magazine, and on the cover of Maxim.  I can't say as I've ever really known her music, but I know her face.  To me, that's someone who's overcompensating for something; let the music speak for itself!

Don't get me started on attention-seekers Paris Hilton, Lindsey Lohan, et al.  They are looking to be seen in any medium they can put their perfectly manicured fingers into, regardless of talent or passion.  Problem is - Lindsay Lohan is actually a tolerable actress - I liked Mean Girls.  Just don't expect me to feel sorry for her putting herself in the media spotlight.  Don't see paparazzi following me around.

My advice to any readers of this rant - do it with passion, integrity, and grit, or don't do it at all.  Any less is not worth the precious few years we have on this Earth.

My Favorite Things

Being a professional musician, it can be hard to nail down my favorite things.  I have influences in all sorts of music, from Metal to Classical, Jazz to Country, and so on.

While my students have all listed their favorite things from a listening perspective, I'll choose to choose my favorite things from a musicking perspective (don't you love it when the music philosophers use music as a verb?)

My favorite thing, by in large, is to make music for people.  Whether it be as the conductor of a high school concert band, a folk-y artist, or the lead singer of my rock band, MGI, I simply LOVE to entertain people, cause emotional and physical reactions, and to reach people.

Within that realm, my absolute favorite musical feeling is watching people smile, laugh, and dance while I'm performing for them.  I'm giving them a good time, and that's a great feeling...unbeatable, even.  While I'm still a neophyte at it, I can see performing being a large par of my life for the rest of my life.

If I had to discuss favorite bands, the list is long: Coheed and Cambria, Tool, Live, The Smashing Pumpkins, the Tea Party, and Rufus Wainwright have all earned the status of "Jones' absolute favorite bands" at one point or another.  To be one of my favorite bands, I have to CRAVE your music.

Up there close would have to be the Foo Fighters, Lenny Kravitz, Leslie Feist, Blur, Radiohead, Broken Social Scene, the Arcade Fire, and Modest Mouse.

So...there you have it.  Jones' favorite musical things...in a nutshell.

What is Music?

OK - Music to me is a tough thing to define.  The professional musician in me wants to say that music is sound and silence, made by voice or musical instrument (howsoever loosely defined), for the purpose of connecting one's emotions with others'.

That's way too vague for me.  Music is part of my being - it is my recreation, profession, and subject of much personal reflection.  Music is not only a noun but a verb as well - I music all the time, whether listening to it, recreating others' music, or creating some new music of my own.  Music's definition to me lies in how I use it and interact with it.  I don't just listen passively to the iPod, I step in time with music's cadence as I walk, I hum familiar tunes, and shout familiar lyrics from the top of my lungs.

Music plays such a central role in my life that I often fight against being defined by it.  I stray from musical neckties, names, and coffee mugs.  I keep music posters (generally) off of my walls, and try ever so hard to keep an open mind when other's ask me to listen to their musics, trying not to be the music snob my pedigree demands of me.  I even sing out of tune sometimes, on purpose, for laughs.

I play guitar and sing at social gatherings, around the campfire, and alone.  I teach large groups of students about music through voice, trombone, and the aforementioned guitar.  My group of friends?  My bandmates and their spouses and the people who've come out to see us play.  I even met my wife (also a music teacher) at band camp for crying out loud!

I digress.....

So - what is music to me?  Music is the blood in my veins, my sustenance, my drug of choice.  When I go a few days without conducting my students, I get cranky and go through withdrawal.  Ask me to go a month without playing with MGI?  I go stir-crazy.  Then I go in the basement with an acoustic guitar and sing my face off.

My favorite games for XB360 are Guitar Hero 2/3, and Rock Band.  My favorite PS2 games are Amplitude, Frequency, and MGS2/3 (so sweet guys).

I hope to music for the rest of my life.  God Bless.