Making music together

It is an occupational hazard of the aspiring musician to practice too much. While we require a baseline physical aptitude, music demands a lot of time inside one’s own head. The premium on memorisation attracts personalities with an ascetic disposition, who will forsake most other pastimes and pleasures without second thought. I often fit this description, as I am, like most serious musicians, unapologetically nerdy. One simply has to become some degree of socially-wanting boffin to seriously commit the required thousands of hours to the study of music. It’s a geeky pursuit, rife with technical inquiry and habitual obsessions, buried in books, scores and records. There are several fairly legitimate stereotypes of outstanding musicians neglecting other aspects of their lives: haircuts become a low-priority, sunlight is optional, and yes, many a musician clung so tightly to their school’s music department that by graduation, they could no longer locate the sports hall or athletic track. (…)