As a performer and recording artist, I’m always full of gratitude when my music can really connect with people who often don’t speak my spoken language. As I’ve performed all over the world (Dubai, India, Switzerland, Spain and South Africa) this is something any musician can truly appreciate. When they say ‘music is universal’, this is its true meaning!

 

We are currently living in a bizarre time, where our connections are more digital and less physical and, even after the dark and uncertain cloud of the Coronavirus pandemic fades away, I believe that human connection will not be the same as it was pre-Covid. This means that we need to really magnify our ways of communicating with each other.

 

Allow me to explain. As an artist, I’m incredibly sensitive to people’s energies and often (client-permitting) accommodate my performances (digital or otherwise) to suit the audience’s needs: e.g. if I can sense sadness, I play something uplifting. If someone is content, I play something that will maintain that emotion for a longer time. If I can pick up a sense of edginess and stress, I play music that I know to be calming.

 

This communication of music is an example of unspoken connections between human beings that show compassion and understanding. I enjoy teaching my online piano students this ability to express and speak via the black and white piano keys. I take the student’s personality and learning goals into consideration as I teach them how to read music, or play music by memory. As lessons progress, students become more confident and relaxed and are able to express their emotions and state of minds via the music that they play.

 

A similar approach is used for teaching languages (in my case, teaching English online). As English is the most-used language in the world, it’s an integral part of communicating knowledge and thoughts verbally and an essential way to progress in an ever-evolving world. There is focus on clarity of pronunciation, correct grammar, expanding vocabulary or even learning English from its basic foundation.

 

Students vary in age, nationality and have different goals, but in the end they all want to express, progress and be heard. What’s interesting is that all these interactions between teacher and student, are online!

 

As we move forward towards a future free of Covid-19, it’s important to have a strong sense of English to communicate well physically and learning music to communicate on a soul/spirit level.

 

This connection of body and spirit mirrors the way your thoughts, feelings and words will come across to other people.

 

I encourage everyone to explore the art of language and music to really elevate themselves in an unpredictable world. If you are armed with knowledge and the ability to express, you will definitely succeed in everything that you do.