The most important thing a serious musician must train is the brain. A true musician plays music first with their head and then the ears. When these two ‘body parts” are well-educated, a musician will then be ready to train the hands. I always tell my students that music played by merely reading notes is meaningless and doesn’t deserve any listening. Music becomes musical and meaningful when it acts as a medium to share a message. This message is the ARTISTIC IMAGE we see in our head, a place where infinite imagination is possible.

Simply put, a child must have a story or an imaginary scenario to tell when playing music. The best “training” a child could receive regarding imagination is exploration. A child exposed to the variety of wholesomeness of this world will have a massive database of source materials from which he/she can draw when the music calls for it. When this artistic image connects with the child’s emotions, it becomes a powerful synthesis that is relatable and, most importantly, meaningful to the child. At this precise moment, a child’s music becomes persuasive, touching, and genuine because he/she is saying something that means something to them.

This is why I always encourage students to think of stories or made-up scenes that complement the music. We should never be robots and only read the notes. It is not music at all. Instead, we should strive to find meaning in every note we play. I hope all my students will always seek the artistic image. After all, music is only worth listening to when it has something to offer, something valuable to say, something honest to present, something impactful to unfold.