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I was talking to another musician this evening and he was saying how playing more than anything else makes him forget any troubles, or worries through concentrating and getting involved in the music.

I find the very same thing. Nothing else better to help relax, forget problems and when things are going well in an exciting piece, nothing more exhilarating!

It makes you wonder how all the non-musicians in the world get through life without music!

Indeed.

I can come home from my day job, feeling like cr*p, fight with myself for a while about how I just don't feel like practicing and then finally just go do it. Within an hour I'm re-energized, breathing easily, mind clear and wondering why I felt so bad earlier.

Jim "gotta go practice now" Wagner

Indeed. Since I work at a desk job, that and, of all things, cooking. Yes, I am the cook as well as the musician and primary breadwinner in the household. Life is very interesting that way!

I REALLY enjoy playing as an amatuer. Perhaps if I had to play eight hours a day... sometimes tunes I didn't like... it could certainly turn music into drudgery.

It might be interesting to hear from the pros who spend their entire days in movie sound studios. What do you guys do to 'unwind'?

Nothing helps mind unwind quite like taking my tuba out to the pond on campus and playing some Mahler for a hou or so...sooooo nice

Ditto

Doc wrote:Maybe I should name my tuba "Calgon".


Methinks that reference is probably wasted on anyone under 35yrs old.

Only if ask your tuba, "Take me away...."

I played the Nutcracker with a serious case of pink eye once. Luckily it was my left eye so I could still see the music and the conductor with the line of sight my horn provides. As always I had a great time.

THERE IS NO BETTER SEAT IN THE HOUSE FOR SOME OF THE GREATEST MUSIC EVER WRITTEN THAN ON THE STAGE.

I went back to playing after the demise of a 12 year marriage. That alone is probably what kept me from a complete meltdown into a pool of self-pity.

To paraphrase "Professor" Harold Hill in Music Man: "... the hours I spend with a tuba in my lap (sousaphone on my shoulder) are golden."

At my age (66) it's better than sex and a hell of a lot more feasible. - I'm hoping that my embochure is the next to last thing to go.

I agree that playing is great therapy. I recently had some serious problems with my job resulting in my (and my wife's) resignation. It was a terrible time but when we spent the weekend playing pit performances of "The Music Man" for a community theater group we just felt better. I felt recharged and it has helped me get through this week and the endless teary eyed kids asking "Mr. Martin, why are you leaving us?".

Every time I think about getting out of playing, something like this happens and gets me right back into it.

Sou

I find that just playing, either practice or performance, is a tremendous stress reducer for me. My day job, which is sometimes a night job, can be pretty intense, and nothing transitions me quicker than 30-45 minutes of playing--tuba when I have it and my euph when I don't.

I used to enjoy dancing to music before I learned to perform it. I still dance to entertain the ladies in my family but I'd rather pick and grin.
Once we acquire the language of music, we also acquire a need to express it. We feel a buildup of musical tension (around here we call it the "pickin' jones") and at least once a month or so need to get out and get it off our chest and out of our system. If it gets too bad one can show up at somebody's open mike night with a tuba.