The Four Keys to the Kingdom

Does the study of music enable us as a society as much as people claim? Beside the known similarities between math and music,what is it about the study of music that has such a profound effect on a person as a whole? In the New York Times, October 12th, 2013, Joanne Lipman's article Is Music the Key to Success? explores how the study of music has had an impact in the lives of non-professional musicians.

What do billionaire Bruce Kovne, Paul Allen, Condoleezza Rice, Woody Allen, and NBC’s Andrea Mitchell all have in common? They have all studied music & many of them worked at it seriously. Joanne interviewed them and other high achievers, as she refers to them, to see if they give music any of the credit for who they are today.

Her findings reveal that they are fully aware of the part that music played in shaping who they have become and they openly acknowledge that many of the skills they need to be at the top in their field, they learned through the study of music.

Steve Hayden, long time advertising executive gives his background in cello performance the credit for his collaboration skills. “Ensemble playing trains you, quite literally, to play well with others, to know when to solo and when to follow.”

Paul Allen,billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, when reflecting back on his years studying the violin and then the guitar says music “reinforces your confidence in the ability to create.”

“There’s nothing like music to teach you that eventually if you work hard enough, it does get better. You see the results.” says NBC chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd who played french horn and attended college on music scholarships.

Joanne breaks her findings down for us into four simple but powerful keys. "Collaboration, creativity, discipline and the capacity to reconcile conflicting ideas." Each of these strengths are empowering in and of themselves, to know how to collaborate with others, to have the ability to create your vision, etc. But put the four of them together and that's when you have the tools you need to make something extraordinary.

For more information visit the referenced article, http://nyti.ms/1rbbSwk