Photo by John Arano on Unsplash
If you don’t use it, you might lose it! Whether it’s your ability to play an instrument, a favorite song you’ve memorized, or even a local music store you appreciate—neglect can lead to loss. In this episode, we explore how to keep music and its many benefits alive in your life. It’s never too late to pick up where you left off!
I’m Mindy Peterson, host of Enhance Life with Music podcast, where we explore the ways music can make our lives better. And this is Microhance, a micro-dose of musical enhancement.
I love listening to podcasts. One that I listen to religiously is Happier with Gretchen Rubin. On a recent episode, Gretchen talked about unexpected ways to apply the “use it or lose it” concept. For example, with muscles: If you don’t use and work leg muscles, bicep muscles, they are going to atrophy and you’ll lose that muscle strength. Same with the brain – if you don’t actively use and challenge your brain, you’ll lose those precious brain cells and neuroplasticity. This concept can also be applied to services: If you want to have independent bookstores in your area, for example, you need to use them or you’ll lose them. You get the idea.
As soon as I heard this application of the concept, I immediately thought of musical applications – like: If you want music venues and performances and music stores in your area, use them or lose them. And I was delighted that Gretchen immediately mentioned these very examples, specifically Broadway shows, live theatre, and local music stores.
I’ll continue the musical application here:
- If you once learned to play an instrument but no longer “get around” to playing it, you’ll eventually find you’ve become so rusty it’s difficult or impossible to play without more lessons. As a piano teacher, I cannot tell you how many adults have told me they took lessons as a kid, and wish so badly they could still play. This is usually after they lament the fact that their parents “let them quit.” Use it or lose it. Get back on that instrument asap and maintain and develop whatever skill you have! It’s never too late to enjoy the gift of expressing yourself in music – and reaping the brain and coordination benefits that go along with it.
- If you mastered and memorized a song for an event, keep playing it as often as needed so you don’t lose it. I like to apply the Minimum Effective Dose here – I personally keep an index card for each song I’ve learned on the piano and don’t want to lose. I find that the younger I was when I learned the song, the more it sticks and the less often I need to play it to keep it. Those are in my once-a-month rotation. Others I’ve just found that if I don’t play it more frequently, I’ll lose it. And those go in my once-a-week rotation!
- Maybe for you its sight-playing skills or improvising. You value having those skills and got so much pleasure from them at a time in your life, but life happens and other responsibilities crowded them out. They aren’t built into your schedule anymore. Build them back in! I know adults who do this by joining a community ensemble, a church worship team, or accompany a school choir.
- If you appreciate the service you receive from a brick-and-mortar music store, where you can try out instruments IRL, get expert advice, repair, and followup service when needed (unlike online retailers), give them your service! If you don’t use them and support their business, you’ll probably lose them. [More on this topic here.]
- If there’s a special song that brings back exquisite memories, don’t save it only for special occasions that may never come. Make today special – listen to it, relive those memories, or they may fade away. Same with that instrument with sentimental value: Don’t let it gather dust and corrode; use it and let it fulfill its purpose by bringing music into your life – or into the life of a student who may not otherwise be able to afford it, through gifting or donation.
What you cherish, you must nurture. Whether it’s a skill, a song, a local music store, or a meaningful tradition—support it, engage with it, and keep it alive. If you don’t, it may slip away.
I recently came across a quote by George Bernard Shaw that expressed this sentiment in a slightly different way. Shaw said:
“This is the true joy in life, being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one. Being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it what I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.”
If there’s a musical way that “use it or lose it” enhances your life, I would love to hear about it.
You can always connect with me on email (mindy@mpetersonmusic.com), Facebook, Instagram, X, or LinkedIn.
I’m Mindy Peterson, and I hope this inspires you to enhance your life with music.
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