Dear Musician - Some Gifts are More Than Just a Gift

It’s true—some gifts are more than just a gift. In previous Dear Musicians, we’ve covered life-altering subtleties of music, such as The Butterfly Effect, to something as extreme as Music Over Matter. I do believe that we as musicians have our own stories of how music has influenced our lives, with each of them (in many ways) being unique.

This point was driven home in a recently-released commercial from the UK retail giant John Lewis & Partners. The commercial is entitled The Boy and The Piano. To quote their website, “This year’s story is about the power of a gift. And how that gift inspired, changed and influenced the course of a little boy’s life. That little boy just happens to be Elton John. The film begins in present day and works backward chronologically through Elton’s life right until the moment on Christmas morning when he received the special gift that changed his life.”

Trust me, you don’t have to be an Elton John fan to appreciate the mastery of the message in this short 2 minute 20 second film. It’s also safe to say that if you grew up during the 70s, 80s and 90s, you understand the impact Elton’s music had on the culture of music.

Most important, the short film drives home how much impact that the gift of music can have on not only a musician’s life but also the lives of those the musician’s music touches.

I can state from a personal perspective that the musical journey of this short film caused me to reflect on my own musical journey and the impact that the gift of music has had on my life—seemingly every facet of it.

I encourage you to take the 2 minutes and 20 seconds to watch this short film. With over 10 million views at the time this Dear Musician is published, you may already have watched it. If you do, please remember the message as you approach this gift-giving season—because you never know where the gift of music may take you! –HC-

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Dendy Jarrett is the Publisher and Executive Director of Harmony Central. He has been heavily involved at the executive level in many aspects of the drum and percussion industry for over 25 years and has been a professional player since he was 16. His articles and product reviews have been featured in InTune Monthly, Gig Magazine, DRUM! and Modern Drummer Magazines.