To the Editor:
Re “Is Music the Key to Success?,” by Joanne Lipman (Sunday Review, Oct. 13):
Two aspects of music may contribute to “success.” First, music students always strive to conquer something just out of reach. The satisfaction of mastering a difficult étude is short-lived; then it’s on to a new, slightly too hard assignment. For type-A high achievers, music lessons leave no room for complacent self-congratulation.
Adult amateurs get a paradoxically opposite benefit: a reminder to “enjoy the process.” I’ve struggled with a lick in Mozart’s clarinet quintet ever since I first played the piece in 1987. Last weekend, in our living room with friends and family, sure enough: close, but not quite perfect.
Professionals probably experience these sensations (at a different level) every day, but for amateurs, music reminds us of the elusiveness of “perfection” and the enjoyment and satisfaction that can come from its pursuit.
Now, please excuse me; I have a few measures of Mozart to practice.
FRANK S. DAVID
Milton, Mass., Oct. 14, 2013
Further reading: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/21/opinion/are-music-lessons-tied-to-success.html?src=recg
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