Repertoire is Destiny

"The wise musicians are those who play what they can master."

 - Duke Ellington

Music starts early. We all begin pre-verbal vocalising as babies and never stop humming, whistling and singing for fun. Some of us go the extra step and take formal music lessons allowing us to become accomplished musicians for the rest of our lives.

With good training and lots of free time it may be possible to become proficient on many different instruments and in many different styles.  This is a worthy goal but in reality most musicians eventually gravitate towards a particular genre and devote themselves to it almost exclusively. 

A musician is known by what she plays.  Narrowing down one's musical path to say, one major instrument and one major style, is an act of musical maturity allowing the player to cement a solid repertoire with the strongest possible technical skills.  It worked for Elton John, Louis Armstrong and Jimi Hendrix!

I recommend a variety of music lessons beginning early so that a young musician may have lots of time to experiment with different styles, instruments and ensembles before finding their strongest musical calling. 

Once a musical path is chosen there is no chance of becoming bored.  There is always something new to learn, some technique to refine, some new piece to learn. As Paul Simon observed: 'Music is forever, it should grow and mature with you, following you right on up until you die.