I would love to be a musician. Not even a professional musician, just someone who can casually pick up an instrument and effortlessly create songs that make others want to stop and listen. Unfortunately, I'm one of those people who would be offered money NOT to sing. My perfectionist tendencies paired with my lack of patience have prevented me from learning how to play the guitar (or any other musical instrument for that matter) because, well, if I'm not good at something instantly, I just give up. Forget all this "you'll get better with practice" rubbish. I want to be a musical genius NOW.
If you want to read about other New Zealanders with the music bug, here's some New Zealand fiction featuring musicians
- Dead People's Music by Sarah Laing
- Mother's Day by Laurence Fearnley
- The Big Music by Kirsty Gunn
- The Phoenix Song by John Sinclair
- The Conductor by Sarah Quigley
Or if you prefer to draw inspiration from real life:
- Gutter Black: A Memoir by Dave McArtney
- Blue Smoke: The Lost Dawn of New Zealand Popular Music, 1918 - 1964 by Chris Bourke
- On Song: Stories behind New Zealand pop classics by Simon Sweetman
- Ready to Fly by David Eggleton
- Hip Hop Music in Aotearoa by Gareth Shute
- Together Alone: The Story of the Finn Brothers by Jeff Apter
And for those of you who do possess both talent and dedication, the library has a bunch of "teach yourself" resources, opens a new window for aspiring musicians.
I can still live vicariously through other New Zealand musicians, though. I can watch, opens a new window them, listen, opens a new window to them, and read, opens a new window about them. Heck, if I really like them, I might even follow them...on Twitter.
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