‘It’s social glue of the strongest variety - my life wouldn’t be the same without it’: three people reveal how music tuition has shaped their lives
When we think about the world’s most famous musicians, it’s almost always guaranteed that they had the backing of a dedicated music teacher to help them forge the path they are now on.
But what about those who were taught an instrument at a young age, and decided not to pursue a professional career in the arts?
Of the children in the UK who will take up an instrument this year, only a handful will go on to have some kind of job in music - but the skills they learn will still be invaluable in later life.
‘My musical improvisation skills help me think on my feet as a paramedic’
While the link between playing a brass instrument, and being a radiation protection advisor at a particle accelerator may seem tenuous, for James Bebbington, the two are inextricably linked.
Learning to play the cornet when he was around eight years old, the now 31-year-old says the skills he learned as a child have helped him enormously in his career.
“In music, you’re taught to play in balance to other people and work as a team, which is something I think I've taken through life,” James explains. “I don’t want to be the loudest person and drown out other people, which is a golden skill for most employment, and that’s something that I've definitely got from having learned music as a child.”
Gabrielle Kirby, a paramedic, agrees.
The 29-year-old began learning the clarinet in Year 3, before taking up the alto saxophone in her first year of high school and progressing to the tenor sax a few years later.
“I think music has really shaped me as a person - it gives you a lot of confidence,” Gabrielle says. “You know those embarrassing moments, where you’d mess up during an improvisation? It prepares you for the real world because that’s just a part of life. Musical improvisation has really assisted with my ability to improvise in intense circumstances in medicine.
“Being able to adapt and make things up on the spot that work with what you’re already doing is a very helpful skill to have.”
David Vaux would go as far as to say that his career as a consultant data analyst began because of his music tuition.
“The first CV I ever had was filled with music stuff,” says the 31-year-old, who began playing the alto saxophone aged 10, and the piano and clarinet a couple of years after that. “Yes, I'd just been through IT college, but music provided actual experience that could demonstrate things I’d done, rather than, ‘Yes, I have read page 57 of this textbook’. It’s something I look for when hiring people now: we need to understand who you really are, and how you can handle yourself.
“During one job interview, they asked if I’d done much public speaking. I was like, ‘No… But I can stand up and improvise on my saxophone in front of a room of people’ - and they were impressed! I recently did a talk and it was great fun, I really enjoyed it - and I think I can put that down hugely to my being used to playing in front of people. You may not have a saxophone or a keyboard to hide behind, but it's exactly the same principle - it's about how you engage the people who are listening to you. I actually have no idea where else you would learn that skill, beyond speaking or performing.”
David continues, “Learning an instrument has been great for my communication skills, and I’m able to have tricky conversations. If you're playing with people, we can have disagreements, but it's about being humble enough to compromise - and that easily relates to work. That kind of constant, ‘I'm in it for the benefit of the thing, not because I'm right or wrong’, is so critical. It’s brilliant to know when to stop in a career, and go, ‘You're literally going down the wrong path here, mate - stop, come back, let's work on something else’.
“If somebody is struggling in a rehearsal and feeling embarrassed, you want them to get better, but you’ve got to do that in a way that doesn't isolate them. I think that applies hugely to careers - if somebody is ‘less senior than you’, you teach them in a way that they feel empowered at the end of it.
Noting the dedication music tuition taught him - be it commitment to a band, or the hours spent practising on a tricky piece of music - David adds that the attention to detail while playing an instrument has also helped his career greatly.
“I work in a technical job, and so focusing on one tiny thing is the difference between being stuck and making progress. Having that ability to try new things and ways of doing it is so important.”
‘Music is the thing that gives me the most joy in life’
While he may not be a professional, full-time artist, music has given David a creative outlet away from his busy work life - and says he actually plays a lot more now than he did when he was a child.
“You channel your imaginations, your emotions and your thoughts into music. That’s a really great outlet for you as a person, to be able to disappear into a world and make something amazing. Sometimes you show it to people, but sometimes the beauty is that you don't - it's just for you, there and then,” he says.
“It’s an expression of who you are. I'm not sure I've got the greatest imagination in the world, but music allows me to bypass that. I absolutely know that I wouldn't be the same person today if I hadn't grown up being taught music.
“When I found out my granddad had died, I just sat at the piano and played. I didn't know what else to do, or how to process or handle that news, so I just played. Quite beautifully, I later remembered a couple of melodies and some chords that had come out and turned that into a piece of music in remembrance. I guess whatever I felt came out in the music.”
Likewise, James is also still creating music.
Under the alias High-Beta, he has mixed his passions for music and science to create “spacey, psychedelic, emotional” electronic music.
“It’s where I try and make the most out of all the hard and difficult things that are all a part of being human,” James explains.
He continues, “I occasionally look forward to weekends when I'm not socialising because I can fully concentrate on my creative outlet. It’s the thing I get really, really excited about and gives me the most joy in life. I definitely have professional musician friends who find that the whole work aspect makes them not enjoy it so much, as there’s more pressure on it, but I’ve still got this thing that is incredibly fun.
“When I get upset or frustrated, I can channel my energy into music, and often get something really good out of it. It‘s my passion and it will always be there for me - it’s never going to go away and not be there.”
‘The confidence you gain is unmatched’
As we’ve now heard, music tuition can later show benefits in both the workplace and privately at home.
But it would be remiss to talk about the benefits of learning an instrument without also mentioning the friendships and social connections that can last a lifetime.
“When you’re younger, it’s not only about the musicality side of things, but the social aspect as well,” Gabrielle says. “Whether you’re in a big band or a choir, you’re doing function gigs and playing in smaller bands with people you haven’t met before. It socially shapes you. The confidence you gain from meeting new people all the time and having to interact and connect with them on a different level to play good music together is unmatched.”
David agrees.
“It's helped my confidence a lot. Sometimes, school wasn't great for me - but I knew when I found people within music, it got a lot better, and that was a huge turning point in terms of my wellness as a kid. It was something I really enjoyed being a part of.
“Music can be a completely solo event, but it’s also a shared understanding and experience with people. Some of my very close friends play music themselves, and I have played with them for years. It forces you to be vulnerable - you're making this product and they're basically listening to you saying, ‘Here you go, I hope you like it..?’ But they're doing exactly the same thing at the same time.
“It can be scary - but equally, you're trusting that person so much for the output of the thing that we're making, and it builds a shared connection.”
Like Gabrielle and David, James also puts his social development down to his music tuition.
“I think about all the bands and orchestras I was in, and all the different types of people that I met through doing that,” he recalls. “From a more classical music setting, to the people who you make music with at a Saturday morning group… you’re all from completely different backgrounds, but you’re there.
“There's also something incredibly deep about making friends with someone through music. Most of the really close friends I have today have come through some kind of music connection - pretty much all my best friends from university are people I met in the jazz band there, which I think says a lot. It’s just such social glue of the strongest variety, and my life really wouldn’t be the same without it.”
‘Music is part of my soul’
Of course, music and religion have been closely intertwined for centuries.
“I'm a Christian, and I absolutely know that playing music has, for me, helped to give me a greater relationship and connection with God and the Spirit,” David explains. “I don't know how I would have gotten that kind of connection without playing or being involved in music. While some people may or may not buy into that, for me, developing and growing that relationship with God was a huge part of my teenage years. It has influenced my life massively.”
And while James identifies as agnostic, the parallels between his own thoughts and David’s words are incredibly similar.
“I wouldn’t say that music defines me - I think that’s a dangerous statement to make - but it’s such a huge part of who I am and what I do. I like that I've got this really passionate interest - it’s something to hold onto sometimes, a bit of a faith.
“I wouldn’t have any of this if I hadn't had my music education - I owe so much to that, it’s part of my soul.”
‘I wouldn’t be who I am today without music lessons’
So, there you have it - while these three people may have very different careers, each confirms that the music tuition they received as a child has helped to positively shape their adult lives.
“I’m really, really thankful and pleased that I have music and I absolutely know that I wouldn't be the same person today if I hadn't grown up being taught it,” affirms David, while James adds, “It always goes back to having music lessons as a child: I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for that.”
Be it the social skills they developed while playing in various music groups, to improvisation aiding them in their work, it’s evident that learning an instrument was an integral and life-changing part of their upbringing.