Watching the 2016 Rio Olympics on TV reminded me of how there are so many parallels between sports and music. To be good at either discipline, meaning sports or music, you have to practice; a lot of practice is involved to get to a competent level. You sometimes practice with others, as a team or as a band, but you end up spending a lot of time alone working on your chosen discipline by either working out alone or practicing alone. A good workout or practice routine is critical in keeping yourself in fit condition, as to be ready to execute your chosen discipline when the event calls for you to do so.
And the outfits. There are practice outfits for a sports workout or clothing that musicians wear to rehearsals with other band members. Most of the time game uniforms are not worn at sporting workouts. From remembering my days in organized sports, the only times that game uniforms were worn at practice were for the team photo day. But my high school football team did wear our game uniforms (without shoulder pads) on the day before a game, but we did not do any contact drills on those days as to not soil the uniforms before the games. Band practice was a time to wear some comfortable clothing; we would concentrate more on the music that was to be played for the upcoming shows. However, sometimes band members would wear show attire to the rehearsal before the show to test out their garments to make sure that they were comfortable. And there were times that we band members would wear our stage clothing to rehearsal if a photographer was coming to take band photos. But most of the time when it came to band photos, the entire band would go to a photo studio to have band photos taken. There was less pressure on us about the music, and the band’s visual image would be the focal point of the photo session.
Fitness is also a key issue here. One must keep oneself in good physical condition in order to perform well in either sports or music events. Back when I was in organized sports in high school, what was known as the “universal gym” or commonly known as a combined workout machine today was fairly new in the U.S. I found myself and my teammates working out on the various areas on the machine to stay in good physical shape. It was important, because the competition that we were up against was quite formidable, and the opposing teams were in good physical condition as well. One had to be ready to face the competition that we were up against.
In order to play any musical instrument well, it is also important to keep oneself in good physical condition. There are many exercises that can be done on every musical instrument, and often the larger the musical instrument, the more physical effort is needed to execute a good sound and tone. For me, that means that the acoustic upright bass was a large instrument that needed my best physical condition in order to play it. Playing a full-scale bass guitar is also an instrument that demands good physical condition. Both the acoustic upright bass and the bass guitar can be demanding musical instruments, so to be in good shape helps to perform well on them.
I also learned that one’s mental conditioning was also very important in sports and music. Sporting events are certainly as much a demanding mental discipline as they are physical one. There are quite a few sporting events that are not decided for hours (football/baseball/soccer, e.g.), and sometimes days at a time (cricket, e.g.), before the event team or individual winner is decided. In order to be successful in sporting events, one’s mental stamina must be either on par with, or exceed one’s physical stamina. Whenever we delve deeper into the success of the most widely known sports teams or sports players in history, recurring stories about mental stamina are often repeated in interviews or stories about them.
Music also has a requirement for mental stamina and conditioning too. Music rehearsals can be very long, depending on where they take place. Sometimes the music rehearsals take place at a rehearsal facility that is paid for, so there is a set amount of time given for a band rehearsal, usually about 4 hours. Other times a band rehearsal can take place at someone’s home, which frees the band up from the time requirements that a rehearsal facility requires. Those rehearsals can go on for much longer, and they are made more comfortable by taking periodic breaks during the time spent together. Studio recording times can also run very long, I have attended several 12-hour recording sessions during my lifetime. And music shows can be very long too, if the set list is a long one. Long music shows can be demanding mentally, and if the music is difficult to play, then one’s concentration must be sturdy and without distractions. Any of these situations can be demanding mentally, so once again, one’s mental stamina and conditioning is important.
The excitement and anticipation leading up to and during either a sporting event or a musical event are similar as well. Both types of events will make the participants become “psyched up” both physically and mentally before the event. And when the sporting event or music event begins, there is a state of being achieved that is separate from the state of being that one has at most any other time. Being “in the moment” during either kind of event is so similar to me; sporting events would place me in a state of wanting to win the event, music events would place me in a state of wanting to win over the hearts of the people in attendance at the event. Both types of events would include large groups of people in attendance who can be quite vocal before, during, and after the event.
Both sporting and musical events lead to encountering people individually after the events are over with. People will have things to say to me whether my teams won or lost, and they would say things to me after shows whether the show went well or not. I will always remember the aftermath of sporting events and musical events that I participated in and how they affected people’s emotions and feelings after the events were over. I was always elated when my sports team won, or if the music show went well; it made it very easy to talk to people afterward. But if my sports team lost, or if the music show was not very good, I would be a little less inclined to talk to people afterward. But I would always talk to people after either type of event, and for the most part, they had kind things to say to me.
I could go on with the analogies between sports and music, but I think that you get the idea. If you keep yourself in a good mental and physical condition, then the chances of a successful event in either sports or music are very good. I have let go of the heavy sporting events in my life because of my age and my health. But I continue to participate in music events because it is where my head and my heart truly remain. So as a musician and a bass player I continue to do my best with each event opportunity that I am involved in. And if you are a musician reading this, I hope that you will too. Play on.
