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MUSIC &
SILENCE
As a member of the world-renowned pop trio The Police, Sting established himself as one of the world's finest musicians. Indeed, his solo career has been equally successful. Sting was awarded an honorary degree in music from the famous Berkley School of Music and spoke to graduates to share with them his musical roots. He has a deep interest in Indian culture and regularly practices Yoga.
BY STING
32
Jain Spirit July-September 1999
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
Photo: Sue Cunningham
I HAVE TO SAY I'm a little bit nervous. You might think this is strange for a man who makes his living playing in stadiums, but often stand in the middle of a stadium full of people and ask myself the same question: "How the hell did I end up here?" The simple answer is: I'm a musician.
I BEGAN to aspire to the piano and would spend hours hammering away at atonal clusters in the delusion that if I persisted long enough, my noise would become music. I still labour under this delusion.
Melodies, chords, song structures fell at my fingertips. Somehow could listen to a song on the radio and then make a passable attempt at playing it. It was a miracle. I spent hour after hour, day after day month after month, just playing rejoicing in the miracle, and probably driving my parents round the bend. But it was their fault in the first place. Music is an addiction, a religion and a disease. There is no cure. There is no antidote. I was hooked.
I had no formal music education. But I suppose I became successful by a combination of dumb luck, low cunning, and risk-taking born out of curiosity. I still operate in the same way. But your curiosity in music is never entirely satisfied. You could fill libraries with what I don't know about music. There is always something more to learn.
When you watch a musician play when he enters that private musical world you often see a child at play, innocent and curious, full of wonder at what can only be adequately described as a mystery, even. Something deep, something strange. Both joyous and sad. Something impossible to explain in words. I mean, what could possibly keep us playing scales
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