Music is Life, and if you listen closely you can hear its rhythm and its beat. Everythingófrom the whistling wind accompanied by the trilling birds and the percussive trees, to the double bass-drum beats in our chestóhas Music. Everyday, metronomic clocks keep four-four-time until death. Of course, I feel this way because I am a musician and when you are a musician, music becomes you.

    Since I was three I have been engulfed in music: playing piano for nine years, trombone for two years, and guitar and bass for eight. An amateur musician, my Dad decided to name me after his favorite musician, Bob Dylan, and ever since I have been immersed in a world of dissonant and resonant tones. Some people smell an apple pie or cookies and think of childhood, but I here certain folksongs and remember my crib and my Dad and Mom singing to me. Whether it was my upbringing or fated from birth, I have become a musician and I will always be one.

    Throughout the years I have developed a philosophy of music that is a combination of Zen and Plutonian beliefs. To musicians, playing their instrument is a kind of meditation, in which they attempt to be one with their instrumentóas if it were an extension of their body. Jimi Hendrix, for example, would stare blankly, moving his lips to the sound of the guitar, when he was in the heat of a solo. Musicians have even mentioned how they are almost unaware of everything else around them when they are fully concentrated on their instrument. Only the greatest musicians, however, can reach this state of total concentrationóand the music they create is the result of their Zen with the instrument. In this higher mental state, great musicians transcend their normal capabilities and create truly magnificent music.

    Musicians call it ìfeeling the flow,î Rappers call it ìflowingî; its when you are well enough versed with your instrumentówhether drums, bass, guitar, keyboards, brass, strings, or vocalsóthat you can clear your mind entirely and feel what you are playing rather than think about it. The better you get with your instrument, the easier it is to reach this higher mental state and the more tools you have to express your feelings. With a bass for example, since I am a bass player, a better musician should be able to play slap-bass, fast triads, chords, and should have a wide knowledge of musical scales and progressionsóall tools which can be used at the appropriate time in a song.

    The meditative aspects of music also have medicinal uses for musicians, in that practicing an instrument or playing songs can be a very useful stress-reliever. I have found that when I am depressed or preoccupied by something, music can be a much-needed receptacle for my negative feelings. Almost as if I am converting my anger, hatred, sadness, longing or whatever into sound waves that exit my body, leaving my mind more at ease.

    Platoís belief in perfect ìformsî also applies to musical perfection. Every category of music has its incredible musicians, each with their own unique style. Yet, interestingly enough, many of these musicians play very similarly and are able to do many of the same things. It seems that every instrument and every kind of music has a desired sound, a perfect ìformî as Plato describes. However, it is the truly remarkable musiciansólike Hendrix, Jimmy Page (from ìLed Zeppelinî), and Tom Morello (from ìRage Against the Machineî)óthat try to break out of these forms, altering the face of music for the future.

    In many ways music may be considered a more effective means of communication than language. With language we can communicate necessary information to each other in the most practical way: if we need to buy a car, language is the most effective way to bargain out a price; if we need to go somewhere, language is the best way to communicate the directions to get there. However, if we are trying to communicate our feelings, emotions or significant ideas, language is not the ideal median. If someone says, ìI am angry,î or ìI am sad,î you would think of times you were angry or sad and relate it to the personís feelings; but no one really gets angry or sad in the same way and language has trouble communicating exactly how the person is angry or sad. With music, however, a musician can gain a state of transcendence in which he is able to show a listener exactly how he feels; so much that a sad country song can make a person cry, a loud metal song can make someone go out and start a fight, and a happy pop song can brighten someoneís day. Not only does music convey the writerís feelings, it strongly evokes them inside the listener.

    Problems with language also occur when crossing lingual and cultural barriers. In an English speaking country English is an extremely useful way to communicate, but in a Chinese village English would be entirely useless. Even speaking American English in England causes some obstacles, since there are different expressions, slang words, and accents. However, regardless of where you are born and what language you speak, music is understood the sameócreating a common ground where people can connect. After hearing a group of Africans sing, Paul Simon was so impressed that he arranged a collaboration album, uniting American folk sounds with African tribal choruses and creating some of the most uplifting folksongs I have ever heard.

    Another distinct example of the universality of music is in the well-known movie, ìDeliverance.î Anyone who has seen this movie will remember the scene when the guitar and banjo duel, nearly everyone in America knows the song they playówhether or not they know it is from this movie. In the famous scene, a well-bred, educated man learns a song from an inbred, uneducated hillbilly. Uncomfortable at first, the hillbilly slowly teaches the man a song; as they each feel more comfortable, the song becomes more fluid and faster, as if the two are in conversation. As soon as the song ends, however, their differences become very evident and the man, feeling uncomfortable, leaves; neither speaks a word the entire scene. Although this is a fictional movie, the significance is clear and can be applied to real life.

    I donít understand the scientific reasons for why music has power over people and their emotions, but I know it does. I have seen the thousands of people worshiping their favorite bands at concerts, just because of their unique ability to shape sound; I have read about the almost spiritual phenomena that occurred in the 60s at Woodstock; I have shed tears and felt outraged from Bob Dylanís ìLonesome Death of Hattie Carroll,î and Iíve been angered at the injustice in his, ìHurricane.î Music undoubtedly has power over people and their emotions, so does that mean there are connections between music and the Divine? Why are their Psalms in the bible and why do all churches, temples, synagogues, etc. incorporate music into their services? The Greeks and Romans believed in muses, who recorded stories in songs. Writers all the way through the Renaissance spoke of being divinely inspired by the musesówith poetry as their way of expressing words musically (without actual music, of course). I personally have no answer whether or not all music is divinely inspired, but I also have no explanation for the way I feel when musical juices are flowing through my bodyówhen my mind is completely blank, yet I somehow know exactly what to play to compliment the other musicians. I also have trouble explaining the awe I feel when I see a musician who is truly superior at his/her instrument. And, most of all, I canít explain how simple sound waves, made by amplified vibrations, can make me feel sad, or angry, or happy.

    Regardless, music is undeniably woven into the very fabric of human existence; we need music to flourish just as much as we need rest and shelter. Without the happy song of a bird, or a simple tune to whistle at work, or the song ìSchoolís Out For The Summerî to blast after finals in May, the world would be an unhappy place. I firmly believe that music holds everything together: a silent Earth is a dead Earth.