During this lockdown, being a music student has become much more difficult—as though it wasn’t hard enough before. A lot of our learning is based on hands-on work, participating in ensembles, and all in all classes that shouldn’t be done online to get the full justice of it. Lessons have become pre recorded videos submitted in advance and facetime calls hoping for good connection and the audio to not cut in and out. Not only can you not hear the actual tone quality, but articulations are sloppy as well. Performances we have looked forward to are cancelled and ensembles aren’t even meeting, making practice motivation so much harder to come by. But although there are so many negatives to this situation, there are also so many positives to come of it. The world seems to be connected through music. Scrolling through facebook there are so many videos being shared of people playing music on their balconies for those in the area to hear, while the listeners dance around. Smiles are evident on everyone around. It seems as though appreciation for music and artists has skyrocketed as more and more find themselves turning on a radio or listening to Spotify to combat the loneliness quarantine brings us all. As musicians, we know the importance music brings in our daily lives and really everyone, but others don’t always see it that way. This quarantine is changing that.
The following are two of my favorite videos from the quarantine thus far. These show the power music is bringing people in this time of hardship and the sense of community we all feel while playing or singing. I hope you enjoy them as well.
Music under Quarantine 