Now or Never? Maybe Later.

         Music has always fascinated me. Growing up in a rural Indian community that still followed a caste system, however, I never got the opportunity to learn how to make my own music. "Only the lower castes actually make music," my mother would tell me whenever I tried to make music by banging on buckets. It wasn't until we moved to Canada, and then the United States, that I actually got the opportunity to make my own music. This was also the time when I realized that I probably suffered from what Dr. Gary Marcus describes as congenital arrhythmia. For my sophomore year Independent Study project, I decided that it would be a good idea to try to learn the guitar. As soon as I proposed the idea to my teacher, he shot me down and told me it would be too difficult in that period of time. I therefore attempted to learn how to play the tabla, or Indian hand drums, and enjoyed moderate success, mostly due to my mentor forcing me to learn the art of rhythms for weeks before I could touch the actual instrument.

        Although I did learn an instrument, I've still always wanted to learn how to play the guitar. It's fascinated me since I moved here from India and realized that learning how to play an instrument is a normal part of everyone's life. However, I often felt like I missed my chance to learn it. Fortunately, Guitar Zero has given me rays of hope. In the chapter "School of Rock," Dr. Marcus compares the Adult musician with the Teen musician. Regardless of age, both must start with the basic alphabet of music: notes that compose melodies and harmonies. They must also get accustomed to the fretboard and the strange shapes they must make with their hands to hit particular notes. Finally, they both require a good sense of rhythm and time. After these skills are attained, the younger teen learning process is different from the adult learning process since the brains of the teens are still increasing in gray and white matter that coincides with learning. As shown with second language studies, children learn a second language much better than adults and reach a much more fluent level. However, adults are still capable of learning the second language to a similar degree. It just takes them longer. In music terms, the teen musician and adult musician both have their strengths and weaknesses. As Marcus discusses, his experience with his band at the Rock and Roll camp showed him that he couldn't keep up with the speed that his younger peers played at. The younger band members learned the new material much quicker and were able to play it at a higher tempo because they focused on their sole part and practiced until they got it perfect. Adults lacked this patience. They did have their own advantages, however. They had the experience and wisdom to look at the whole picture. Marcus was able to add suggestions to the overall musical experience that the younger band members couldn't even think about. Gary Marcus even got his friend's three sons playing together. 

        The Los Angeles Times also recently reported that music is good for you at any time in your life. Although learning music is ideal before the age of 8 or 9 (interestingly coinciding with the ideal time period for acquiring a second language), learning music is possible at any age. In addition, researchers report that picking up a guitar at any age, 10 or 50, and learning how to play it actually promotes mental  and physical health. As Gary Marcus explains, this is due to the fact that any learning, musical or nonmusical, coincides with growth and new neural connections in our brains. Studies show that there isn't a specific part of the brain that modulates music but it is produced due to several parts of the brain that are already involved in many other processes working together in a new manner. By forcing our brains to make these connections in an age where it would be sitting idly otherwise, we promote our brain's health, extending its healthy life. The Los Angeles Times also reports that the mere action of listening to music can be beneficial. This is because the pleasure we receiving from listening to music we like stimulates the release of growth factors that promote growth and replacement of brain cells. Although this isn't essential in our earlier years when most of our brains are either young or constantly being replaced due to our society's learning standard, this becomes essential as we age. 

            Reading Guitar Zero and Music is good for you at any age have both reinforced my desire to learn how to play the guitar. In fact, after reading the two, it is more likely that I will pick it up much later than I initially planned, maybe even later than Dr. Marcus, since it promotes my mental health and allow me stronger expertise when it comes to making music, which is my primary goal. 

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/mar/01/health/la-he-0301-brain-music-adults-20100301