Why what I learned in Art and Music class is Important

I hesitate at holding one school class or activity up over another, as I see all of the classes I took in school as important to a holistic understanding of the world and for developing skills for life. (Yes, that includes those English classes in Upper School where my grades (in order) were C+, C+, U, C, D, C-, C, D+, C, U, U, D+. (Wow, I just realized I never got above a C+ in English, this shouldn’t surprise me, however it mildly does.))

So, what did I learn in Art and Music? Yes, I learned those “hard” things such as music notation, color theory, vocal techniques, how to “throw” a pot on wheel, and how to understand complex rhythms. I even learned some of those “softer” things, such a teamwork and performance etiquette. But, thats not what this blog entry is about.

Music and art classes most importantly taught me how to implement a vision. In music class, and really more specifically in the performing groups I was a part of, I participated in implementing a vision. At least twice a year, Mrs. Butke would present us with several new pieces of music, and we’d begin working on them to turn them into gems. Mrs. Butke had developed the ability to look at the dots, lines, and text we call music, and envision them in her mind’s ear, and guide us students toward meeting that end goal.

In art classes, we were encouraged to figure out our own ideas and vision for our art pieces, and bring them into a physical reality. Yes, sometimes we’d be given a general medium to work in or a general form to work toward. But, if an art teacher says “make a pot”, the art student is left with many different ways to achieve this, stacking little coils of clay around and around to create a pot, flattening out pieces of clay and building up walls of the pot, or taking a ball clay, putting it on a spinning disc, and guiding it into a pot. But in all of those cases, you have to have some idea of what it should look like when you’re finished, it may not end up looking anything like that initial vision, but you must have a vision to get started.

I’ve enjoyed reading Jason W. Krug’s blog The Creative. I’ve found his writing inspirational and enlightening, especially as I careen down the gauntlet of staring a company. The blog has its own guidance, but it also connects me to those lessons I learned back in school.

So, a few of you are probably wondering what exactly all this talk about creativity has to do with starting a company. You’re thinking starting a business is well, business class stuff and music and art are about creating music and art.

Jason put this in clarity in his recent entry, In Praise of Hard Work:

The funny thing about composing, though — the income I get this year is a direct result of my hard work from the past 12-36 months or so. I could start today and work my tail off for a solid month, and I wouldn’t see the fruits of that labor for probably at least a year and a quarter, possibly longer. Such is the nature of the beast.

Starting a business from scratch fits right into the first paragraph. Writing a business plan doesn’t pay. Its much like composing. You’ve gotta pretty much write the whole thing, then go shopping it around to investors, who might provide you with funding. Its the same process of writing music and sending it out to see if you can get a publisher to pick it up.

So why did I never get above a C+ in English class? First, I went to a tough college preparatory school. (Also, those last two U’s and D+ were given to me by a teacher who takes a huge amount of pride in being as difficult a grader as he can be.) Second, for many reasons I struggled with going from “write a 2-3 page paper on this book” to having the 2-3 page paper written.

Those Cs in English were happening at the same time I was getting As (and the occasional B) in Art and Music classes. At the time I saw English classes not a a joy within themselves, but as a means to an end. A way to get into college, to get a job, to live life. That end desire was eight to twelve years in front of me in upper school, which is an eternity for a teenager. Music and art were their own joy right now, perhaps not immediately, but in a couple of months.

Starting this business is one of those things were success is at best twelve months in the future. (If the company was fully funded at this moment, it’d take twelve months at a normal pace to deliver the product.) But, more realistically its somewhere in the 16-24 month range. Which brings me to the second quote:

I think of two of the most successful composers I know … don’t work hard because of their success; they have their success because they work hard.

I’ve learned many times that hard work creates success, but I still need the reminders, especially when it comes to implementing my own vision. The vision my company’s product first entered my heading the hallway between the art room and the music room.

If like Zeus, I could’ve created in whole from my head, I would have. But, I am neither Zeus, nor is my vision Athena.

Its gonna take some hard work, and music and art classes gave me the fortitude to do this, not some business class, not math class, not english class, music and art taught me how to bring my visions into the world.