Podcast Response: Music Lessons

      Music lessons are the pains that every kid has to go through when they are little. Whether this includes the classical instruments, the piano and violin, or the more festive instruments, like the saxophone and trumpet, all parents seem to be under the same trance when it comes to musical opportunities. Maybe it's all the talk going around saying that music will "help develop and mature the young brains of tomorrow," or maybe it's because they think it's something the kids will appreciate them for later on in life, but through music lessons, lots of other life-long skills are learned. In "This American Life's" episode, "Music Lessons," Ira Glass explores the lives of Durrell Daniels and Sarah Vowell to show how music lessons can truly, positively impact a life.
       Durrell Daniels has a passion for music. He loved it so much that being a professional classical musician just was not enough so he become a 7th grade music teacher. Daniels was once "surrounded [...] with 13-year-olds who massacred the living guts out of" music every day so he did what he thought would keep him sane, he quit and toured Asia, Brazil, and Canada. After he had kids of his own he had to support, he went back to teaching music in elementary school and got a whole another experience. Even though he has kids that are at the moment not musically advanced yet and "are not shy about blowing that horn no matter how bad they sound," he has found a joy in teaching, something he had missed the first time around. "Teaching music is like any teaching, except that when you fail, it is loud," but when they start to play and "they just soar," it's all worth it. Durrell Daniels did not find pleasure in teaching the first time around but was finally able to discover the true rewards of teaching, the feeling of accomplishment after time passed.

       Not only do music lessons benefit the teacher, it also benefits the pupils. Sarah Vowell appreciates the advantages that marching band gave her in her high school, "band geeks" days. As her friends sit in the stands and cheer her on during football friends, she explains how it cheers her up on days she feels down. She was able to learn more about the school during her band camp days too. Not only does she get a sneak peek of high school, she also learned to be independent. All the different instruments she practiced, the baritone and the trumpet, took time to perfect and during those times, she learned to be independent, to do things by herself.  Marching band was able to give Sarah life-long benefits, and continues to this day to be something that she will always remember.
       Durrell Daniels and Sarah Vowell represent the teacher and the pupil, the two key components involved in music lessons. Both of their stories show how music lessons are a pleasure for everyone involved, a journey worth taking in those young, adolescent years.