Learning Life Lessons Through Music: I Am the Instrument

*The content of this article was originally featured in a TEDx Talk given by drummer and Alfred Music author Mark Powers, and is used here with his permission [scroll to bottom of page to view the video].

Whether any of us consider ourselves drummers, or musicians, each one of us—no matter what else we do, or pursue—are "rhythmitists."

From the beating of your heart to the changing of the seasons, the clothes bouncing around in the dryer, your fingers typing on a keyboard—we’re all participating in and contributing to the rhythms in our environments and interactions with others.

A musician and his or her role on stage with a band is really no different than the roles that any of us play in the teams that we’re a part of at work, or at home.

We all need to learn how to subdivide, prioritize, and manage small and large increments of time. We all need to know how to build and maintain relationships, use our creativity, and handle conflict.

I’ve had a natural inclination most of my life to repurpose things. When I see someone doing something that I find very fascinating, I always think, “How could a musician apply that?” And that’s how I’ve come up with many of my most original ideas!

But I’ve also found, over the years, that there are many musical lessons I’ve gotten from some incredible percussionists that have been just as valuable to me in day-to-day life as in my musical life.

Here are four music lessons that we "rhythmitists" can apply in other areas of life.

1. Have big ears.

When I was 16, I went to a little music school in Minneapolis to study with a variety of incredible teachers. One of whom was Gordy Knudtson, who plays for the Steve Miller Band. I learned many lessons from him, and one them was to have big ears. In a musical sense, when you are playing with a band, don’t think about what you’re doing. Step back and pay attention to what part you are of the bigger picture.

In day-to-day life, listen, and understand what part you have in the synergy being created in the projects and workplaces that you’re in.

2. Be the weak link.

One thing that Gordy often stressed was putting yourself in a context where you’re surrounded by people who challenge you.

I’m a firm believer of a couple of things—first of all, that each of us are an average of the 5 people we spend most of our time with. And, second—the path of least resistance is the path of least growth. Surrounding yourself with people who are challenging, who are maybe doing something that you want to do, is the best way to grow because you’re not going to do that if you’re surrounding yourself with people who already completely believe and are doing the things that you do. I’ve found that being that link in a musical sense has made me grow, and try to also put myself in that position socially and professionally—those are the times I grow the most.

3. Commit to an idea.

This comes from an incredible guy by the name of Bob Moses, who I traveled across the country to study with several years back. Bob Moses also goes by the name of Rakalam, which means “the inaudible sound of the invisible sun.” Bob is far more right-brained than I’ve ever been, which is why I sought him out.

In our 3-hour lesson, we probably sat on the drumset for 15 minutes—he had me dancing around the room, vocalizing things—things no one ever made me do, because I’m a drummer! One of the most impactful experiences I had with him was him asking me to play a solo. He sat down at the piano and explained to me that I would sit down at the drumset and play along with him, and at some point in the song we were going to play, he would stop and let me solo, and then he would come back in to resume the song and end.

So that’s exactly what we did. Bob’s sitting at the piano playing with two fingers, almost like a vibraphone player, plunking away at a little improvised jazz song and I’m playing my little swing beat, and at some point he stops and looks at me and I pull every trick in my bag that I’ve got out and throw it on the drumset—the kitchen sink, everything I’ve got. (I had to impress Bob Moses, this was my one opportunity!)

He comes back in and we resume the song and finish. Then Bob stops, leans over on the piano, and says, “Hmm... You had a lot of really great ideas. [But] you didn’t commit to one of them.”

And what he explained was, with all of the little motifs I played in my solo, I could’ve built 50 fantastic solos. If only I would have committed to one of those ideas and expanded on it—milked it for everything it was worth to see where it could take me. And that’s what we spent much of the rest of the lesson doing.

He immediately followed that up with a demonstration by walking over to the drumset and from the wrong side of the drumset grabbing my sticks, hitting the high tom, hitting the high tom rim, kicking the bass drum head, and the heating unit on the wall. He took one of my motifs and built it into this incredible solo, right in front of my eyes.

And I’ve found that’s one thing that I often fail to do in day-to-day life, as well—take one of these millions of great ideas I think I have, commit to it, develop it, and see where it goes.

4. Be the instrument.

Lesson 4 comes from jazz drumming legend Art Blakey, who is quoted as having said “I am the instrument.” And what that means to Art Blakey is that no matter what tools he’s given, no matter what drumset he’s given, he’s going to sound like Art Blakey.

That was something that took me a long time to understand until I started traveling with a band where I was performing one night an incredible, expensive instrument, then the next night I had a local rented kit without a drum throne. I quickly realized that I couldn’t complain, I had to suck it up and show up on stage, the show must go on—people are expecting to see the same show that they’d see any other night. They don’t understand the limitations I might have. What I found is that no matter what, I’m going to sound like me.

In day-to-day life, I think that is something that we all need to remember—we are the instrument. No matter what, if you have the conviction, no matter what resources you may or may not have—every one of us is capable of accomplishing what we desire to. We see examples of people with supposed limitations overcoming that!

Embrace your inner “rhythmitist,” and take note of these four lessons: have big ears, put ourselves in positions to be the weak link, occasionally take an amazing ideas and develop it to its fullest, and remember that ‘we are the instrument.’ We are each our own instrument musically, we are each our own instrument of change, we are each our own instrument for success. Use these four lessons together, and become more extraordinary.