In the name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful.
It is great to live with another musician. You get to listen to his music for free and you have free access to his knowledge and skills in music. Learning music is a huge investment and not everyone is privileged to attend formal music education. I think this is what people may overlook. They attend a few years of music school and then frown upon those playing on the streets, whom may be without formal education.
I would not say I have been in the company of music elites but I must say I have been privileged to be in the company those who have many years of music experience. And it is very interesting to interact with someone who was self-taught and someone who studied music more formally. The former is my husband and the latter is G Hustler.
And I must say, there is no right and wrong way to learn music. They are quite comparable in terms of knowledge and skills. Both of their ears are well-trained over the years. Both of them are also multi-instrumentalists. My husband is comfortable playing the piano, guitar, bass guitar, and drums. G Hustler has played saxophone and is comfortable playing the piano and guitar. But I must say he is haphazard on the drums. I definitely fare better on the drums compared to him!
What both have taught me is that we do not have to be so rigid in our music exploration. Additionally, true musicians will always be willing to give some pointers and guidance for free because in the end, it is all about the love for music. So as a learning musician, I should be more open to receiving tips.
But sometimes I just find that difficult when all I want to do is to be alone in fiddling with the instrument.
You see, the problem with living with another musician is that they get attracted to the sound of music when you are playing and then they get into the mood of playing themselves, and before you know it, they took over your instrument and consequentially your time to play it.
Sighs.
I need to figure out how to best utilise my music time. Maybe I will need to move on to another instrument when my instrument is taken over or go back to the books and learn the theoretical aspects while waiting for my husband to finish conquering my instrument. Lol.
And Allah knows best. – MM
Metropolitan Muslimah 