Mark's Theory



The Difference in Recording, Performing and Teaching



by Mark Christopher Brandt





Recording



While it is true that many of my former students have excelled in the musical arts in multiple and exciting ways over the years, I find myself reflecting most upon the hundreds of students who have passed through my studio, not seeking higher art, but simply the ability to play the piano for personal enjoyment - for the sheer pleasure of making music in their own homes and on their own terms. Encountering these souls, both children and adults, and sharing in the joy that they derive from music lessons, sometimes for years at a time, has brought a deeper meaning to my life, my spirituality, and my artistry. I may be affecting people, on a deep level, with my albums or my songs in the same way that my musical heroes affected me when I purchased their recordings. Longing to glean everything I could from their music, I returned again and again to my turntable as a youth, and later to my CD player as an adult. While that experience is truly incredible for the serious and hungry listener, it is not mutually shared with the artist. How can I know the souls who are entering into my recorded works with joy? I am sure it is happening, but I can never be sure to whom it is happening, or when, where, how, and why.



Seven Moons Studio Session 2015





Performing



As a performing artist, I have been moved and energized by the applause my music has received, and I have gone home from every successful show knowing that, as wonderful as it was, the experience would not sustain me into tomorrow. Every performance can be magical, but the audience and the musician must ultimately separate, and while the memory of the magic lasts for a time, it gradually fades away. The next performance finds the musician facing different people with a completely different set of circumstances, and with the spiritual and emotional limitations inherent in the encounter. The audience from the previous evening is already moving forward into their next life event, while the musician strives to return to the place he was the night before, when he was so deeply appreciated and his existence had meaning and purpose.



Twins Jazz Club Washington D.C. 2016





Teaching



Then, there is the one-on-one encounter between teacher and student. I have said goodbye to a student after an exciting lesson, and known that the flame ignited within us would burn brightly well into the week and even up until the next lesson. This magic happens with each and every student again and again, all day long, all week long, all month long, all year long, decade after decade, even until now. Each student arriving to his or her lesson after the last week’s lesson brings new wonder, new hope, new joy, and new fulfillment. I have been teaching music for so long that I have actually watched my students who came to me as children become adults. I have watched them go away to college, and I have been blessed by many who have come back and invited me to their weddings. I have watched in awe as the children of these children come into the world. I have also learned, sadly, of the funerals of some of my past students. As a teaching musician, the circle of life is as much a part of my life as the circle of fifths. The bond formed between a music teacher and a family is truly beautiful and profound. I did not know when I began this aspect of my artistry that I would be so enriched, so rewarded, and so edified. A day in the not-too-distant future will arrive when my career, and my life, will end. I can only hope and pray that part of my legacy will be found in the hearts of each and every student I have encountered. It is true to say that part of their legacy has most certainly been burned into mine.



I still practices a minimum of 2 hours every day.





Procrastination is the deadly enemy of the artist.



There are one million well described reasons why you can not practice today. There is one reason alone why you will. You love it. If that love is not there then you are not an artist.