A Musician’s Paradox: The Ups, Downs, and Ebb and Flow of Being a Pensive Musician

Being a musician can often be a paradoxical experience. On the one hand, playing music is a transcendent, uplifting experience that can take the musician to almost otherworldly heights. Yet on the other, the rhythmic connection of musician, to music, to other musicians can be deeply and profoundly grounding. As both transcendent and grounding, personal yet communal, playing music seems to touch on the supernatural and can be both a boon and a burden for the musician. In A Musician’s Paradox—The Ups, Downs, and Ebb and Flow of Being a Pensive Musician, author and lifelong working musician Ty Kiernan explores the intersection of music and philosophy with a series of philosophical discussions on life, human behavior, music, faith, relationships, and the connection between musician and instrument...