Music is medicine. Music is sanity.

I recently heard a FANTASTIC TED Talk given by Robert Gupta, violinist in the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and wanted to share some of the profound things I took away.  I’ve also embedded the full TED talk at the end of the post, and highly recommend you give the full thing a watch/listen!

In the talk, Gupta shares the story of Nathaniel Ayers, a Juilliard-trained double bassist who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia.  We’re probably all at least somewhat familiar with this story from the movie The Soloist.  Due to his affliction, Ayers dropped out of Julliard, suffered a complete breakdown, and 30-years later is living homeless on the streets of Skid Row in downtown LA.

Ayers had been refusing treatment after he had been “treated” with chemicals, shock treatment and handcuffs.  He was so scarred by these techniques that he became resistant to other methods of treatment.  As a result, he’s prone to episodes where he explodes or disappears for days at a time.

Gupta met Ayers in 2008 after a performance of the LA Philharmonic, and a few days later found out that Ayers was interested in having a violin lesson.  At the beginning of the lesson, Nathaniel was in a state of agitation, and seemingly close to an episode.  Here’s what Gupta said:

“He was talking about invisible demons, and smoke, and how someone was poisoning him in his sleep.  And I was afraid.  Not for myself, but I was afraid that I was going to lose him.  That he was going to sink into one of his states and that I was going to ruin his relationship with the violin if I started talking about scales and arpeggios and other forms of didactic violin pedagogy.”

At this point, the outcome of the lesson is seeming pretty grim.  But then:

“SO I JUST STARTED PLAYING.  As I played, I understood that there was a profound change occurring in Nathaniel’s eyes.  It was as if he was in the grip of some invisible pharmaceutical…Nathaniel’s manic rage was transformed into understanding, a quiet curiosity, and a grace.”

WOW.  “So I just started playing.”  This is incredible to me.  Someone on the verge of a manic breakdown was almost instantly calmed and centered just at the sound of music.  Gupta goes on to describe the rest of the lesson, as Nathaniel began playing (by ear!) snippets of different violin concertos.  They had conversation about composers from Bach to Sibelius, and Gupta realized that Ayers not only had a great knowledge of music, but a very personal connection to it.

Gupta continues:

“Through playing music and talking about music, this man had transformed…from the paranoid, disturbed man that had just come from walking the streets of downtown Los Angeles, to the charming, erudite, brilliant Juilliard-trained musician.

MUSIC IS MEDICINE.  Music changes us.  And for Nathaniel, MUSIC IS SANITY.“

Gupta explained that music was an escape for Nathaniel.  It allowed him to get away from the torment of his own mind.  Pretty powerful stuff.  I think there isn’t enough emphasis on this “side-effect” of music.  Often I ask myself, “Is this catchy?”, “Does it sound good enough?”, “Will people like/buy it?”, “Is this song going to help my career?”  All of those things seem so petty when you consider that music has the power to transform minds and souls.

Victor Hugo said it this way:

“Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent.”

Imagine if we started filtering the music we create and perform through this lens?  NOT WHAT WILL SELL, BUT WHAT WILL HEAL?

I’ll let Mr. Gupta wrap up this blog post, as he says it very well:

“And I understood that this was the very essence of art, this was the very reason why we made music.  That we take something that exists within all of us at our very fundamental core, our emotions, and through our…creativity, we are able to shape those emotions into reality.  And the reality of that expression reaches ALL of us, and moves us.  Inspires and unites us.

I will always make music with Nathaniel, whether we are at Walt Disney Concert Hall or on Skid Row, because he reminds me why I became a musician.”