Benefits of Doing Music (Unusual Dimensions of Music/ Why One Shall Music) RKDas Introduction It is commonly believed that music is a means of entertainment. Application of music is rather wide beyond just entertainment. Music is both an art and science with a lot of hidden potential. Music may be considered as a science as it has both theoretical and practical aspects. In a superficial level, the potential attributes of music are related to (which can be discovered from its) tunefulness, rhythm cycle, appropriate use of words in lyrics, effectiveness, etc. The training of music can develop management skill, sense of punctuality, discipline and it can instill group dynamics. Music has health benefits if it is being practised and listened to. Music can be used for the treatments of psychological disorders to some extent and physical ailments also. Vocal music is a proven solution to the problems of concentration and stammering and it can refine ones communication skill too. Those activities get more attention of most of the people from any part of the world which involves monetary gains. Learning music, at its first place don’t have any monetary gain or outcome, so is private singing, dancing and playing musical instruments, in contrast to the performances in the concerts. The writer of these lines, a vocalist of Hindustaani classical music realized that unless one is musically gifted, it is undoubtedly one of the toughest subject to work with. Achieving optimum perfection in music is very difficult, especially in an accomplished performer’s point of view. Due to uncertainty of earning as well as successful training, even who are insiders of music; do not encourage their offspring to opt for music. Why One should Do Music? Music is a nice means of pastime. Ancient music was mainly for celebrations and get together. Primitive music had drumming, dance and singing. After a daylong hunting or farming people gathered around fire to eat, sing, dance and make merry. If they were together there was less fear against the attack of the wild and violent beasts. Vedic rituals like sacrifices had music and dance as a part of the celebration. Music and dance which is associated with physical activities used to introduce break to the boredom and falling asleep that arose due to offerings and monotonous recital of the mantras or incantation. Music and dance play an important role in the evening life of rural folks and villagers which acts as a kind of diversion from the pains of the torture of the powerful, exploitation, party-politics, mud-slinging, gossip. Musical activities can relax ones body and mind to some extent and can alleviate fatigue of daylong labour too. Music has employment opportunity. Learning and mastering music can help a person in earning money by getting engaged in private tuitions. Music as a subject of knowledge can directly open some avenue of teaching music in schools, colleges, universities and music institutes as lecturer, reader and professor. One can become music critic, music record reviewer, lyricist, music writer (essay, article, music reporting) on the newspaper and periodicals, music scholar for writing profound research oriented books and articles, professional writer of music text books for the educational publishers, etc. A person of music can hold the post of A & R as a liaison officer in a record company for searching music talent and promoting music of the artistes in demand for the profit the employer. One can earn by participating in musical debates, music- dance related TV shows, music competitions, seminar, symposium, workshop as trainer, expert, judge or helper. One can get job in the music industry as outdoor and indoor recording personnel, in the recording studios as a recordist and music editor, as music hands in the process of recording, music composer in the films and advertisement films, music arranger, etc. A person, who knows music, has close contacts with big and small artistes and is a connoisseur can become impresario or music programme organiser by hoisting an event management company. An accomplished musician can try his luck as a concert artiste by finding a godfather, contacting the music programme organizers to gather name, fame and wealth. A person can become a chorus singer, a singer in the jingles, playback singer, singer- actor, musician of the plays, political parties (qawwali and birhaa singer to promote political ideology), performer in the festivities like marriage, birthday celebration, anniversary, festivities like Holi, Diwaali, Dassera, Janmaashtami, Shiv raatri, Eid- Urs, Xmas, and so on. Music has many benefits (achievable by translating the experiences in the real life situations) Therapeutic benefits- Music listening is related to experiencing and feeling, whose impact or effect brings changes in the emotional state of a person at a particular moment. The act of singing and playing instruments is capable incorporating such changes too. A piece of music full of joyful lyrics, pleasing melody and fast lilting rhythm can drive away laziness, melancholy, depression, loneliness, and anything that is negative in nature. This kind of remedial happening occurs because of the diversion of mind and shift of the focus of mind. The impact of pains and cause of uneasiness reduces if mind is made busy in some activities that are interesting and completely unrelated to the subject of pains. A piece of music which is absolutely charming and soothing (when looked at it objectively), it automatically shows therapeutic effects. Normally, a sweet and effective voice, tuneful instrumental recital and a peaceful strain act as a healing agent. Many raags and melodies have inherent qualities of depicting certain emotions, they are useful in music therapy. There are many happy or melancholic film songs in the Bollywood music and others of India that easily divert ones mind from grief, physical and mental pains. Control of emotion- There is uncontrollable emotion when there is loss of the dear ones like beloved, parents, siblings, pets, etc. or because of unexpected cheating by someone very close. The mind of the subject is then highly obsessed with a single thought. The intensity sometimes compels one to commit suicide. In such cases psychotherapy works, but if the person then listens to his favourite happy music and get gregarious by joining party or goes for outing with sympathetic friends and sings heart content while moving, there is great relief. Cure of autistic kids- Autism is a mental condition in which a person has great difficulty in communicating with other people. Children affected by autism can be exposed to various kind of music that has rhythm, melody and body movements in their activities indicating meaningful expressions; by imitating the same the autistic kids might be in a position to help themselves to some extent. Concentration, physical and mental strength- while singing or playing tonal instruments one has to listen to the drone or the fixed tanpura sound and he is required to match his recital with the drone so that it sounds appealing to ear of any listener. This process of matching requires attentive listening and analysis of ones own music. It becomes an automatic process of concentration because one streamlines steady breath. Gradually the breath range of the musician increases and hence the physical and mental strength, which are dependent on the breath capacity. Such practice boosts ones self confidence. Perfectionism- We naturally dislike the music that is out of pitch and out of rhythm. To maintain tunefulness and uniform tempo of a rhythm one has to do a lot of single minded practice. The love of music, which arises due to its inherent charm and beauty, does not bore the learner, as a result sooner or later he becomes a perfect musician. This very attitude is the root of perfectionism. Incidentally, here it may be mentioned that normally all the learners, even the accomplished musicians find that in a piece of music, the tempo of a rhythm gets fast automatically and pitch of a note tends to less than the optimum one. One needs to keep raising the pitch slightly and hold back the tempo after every few cycles, if required.  The perfectionism developed by undergoing such rigorous sessions can become helpful in the other disciplines of life. Patience- Especially vocal music requires a lot of preparation and hard work. The homework is often a very tedious process. The learner must not lose heart. He has to have patience for breath control does not take place in one or two sessions. It involves many calm and sensible practice sessions. Sometimes one feels there is no improvement even after regular music practice or riyaaz. One has to be steadfast and persistent for achieving the goal. In fact everyday the learner has to reach the goal from almost zero, regarding the sur ka lagaao or the perfection of tonality and pitch. It happens because food intake, sleep and other activities disturb the sense of pitch cognition considerably. Sense of tunefulness is not something like rote learning, which remains in memory once it is remembered. Instrumental music like sitar, sarod, flute, saarangi, violin, santoor, veena, etc. also demands patience and unbroken chain of practice, but vocal music is more taxing than others.  The patience developed by undergoing such rigorous sessions can become helpful in the other disciplines of life. Punctuality- There are many dimensions of punctuality in music. A musician with weak sense of rhythm can always bewilder the connoisseurs including a lay listener for there are few who can't dance with skewed sense of rhythm. Music and dance teaches one to perfect any prevalent rhythm cycle which is but time measurement in simple terms. The business of punctuality depends on the fact of ‘on time’. The time of lesson, teaching, food, rest, programme, etc. are interconnected. All these demands punctuality and neither delay nor before the schedule. Organizing skills- In music, it the order of presenting items in a single piece of music like khayaal is keenly observed even though there is a lot of room for improvisation. There is a set system which is invariably followed by the product good schools of music trained in guru shishya paramparaa. It is not only music; one has to look presentable with particular attire needed for a musician or dancer; one has to look after the things related to reaching venue, such as transport; musical instruments required for concert; taking care of appropriate sound and light; organizing the group of musicians through proper selection process; getting payment from the organizer, etc. Leadership quality- A principal artiste with his leadership qualities make his subordinate artistes rendering appropriate accompaniment and support during the concert, as well as before and after the concert. He invariably develops the abilities of fast and right decision making. It is required while presenting the music, otherwise the music hands tend to create chaotic situation with respect to tunefulness, rhythm, etc., because they normally don’t have enough sense and courage to do the right things following the needs of the moment. They have to be led to the venue on time with their instruments and bring back. Division of attention- Once an artiste is on the stage for the performance, he simultaneously divides his attention towards tunefulness, proper utterance of lyrics, desired uniformity of tempo and rhythm, effectiveness of rendition, sound and amplification system- feedback for the accompanying artistes, attitude of the accompanists, beckoning of the organizers, expectation of the audience, light on the stage and on the audience, temperature of the theatre, ignoring the noise created by typical Indian audience, arrival of a dignitary or a recognized connoisseurs in the front row and wishing them, etc. All these require exposure and experience, that develops when the artiste imbibes the very skills being with his mentor on the stage. Division of attention is not a mean and easy job, which is acquired during the training of an able master. Integrity- While singing, playing or dancing the artiste shows uniformity and no quarrel with the music hands. The same is reflected in dealing with payment, time, words, character, mode of behaviour with people of different age and rank, etc. If it is not done, the group crumbles, organizers create trouble; which results into a bleak future to the fate of the artiste. Group dynamics- development of internal courage while doing music together, singing in choirs of school, church, gospel, etc. as a part of a team. In group singing one is not scared to sound awful. Singing together hides ones anxiety and nervousness that arise in solo singing. Group singing hides ones minor mistakes and imperfections. It does not require sense of perfect tune or pitch, for once it is started by others one joins in to become an automatic tuneful singer: this is one of the greatest benefit of group dynamics. Group singing is louder than solo recital and it creates profound impact. Group singing and group music have the power of arousing a listener from his drowsy state and laziness. Energetic group music has energizing capacity for both the performer and listener. Performance in a group heals ones insecurity and fear of faring badly. It hides ones vocal weakness, limitations of sense of rhythms. It is similar to the PT, drill or marching in which everyone needs to be together. It brings a sort of discipline and sense of being systematic in one life in long run. Group dynamics can gradually help a person to be perfect in the arts overcoming the diffidence factor. Disciplining body and mind- Aforesaid activities are nothing but bringing disciplines in ones life with the help of music. Our mind keeps thinking uncontrollably in all the moments except when we are not under deep slumber. Raaj yog instructs that just observing and maintaining uniformity of breathing, there is sure achievement of concentration, calmness, peace, etc. In music, same objective is reached by producing unwavering or non-flickering vocal sound, which is a result of uniform breathing, steady body and unperturbed mind. Long hours of practice can bestow all the required qualities, which are but the disciplined body and mind. Discipline of body, mind and desire can cut unnecessary cravings life. Management related benefits- All the bulleted points mentioned above this paragraph are a sort of hands on related to management skills and training for handling the adverse situations effectively. The experiences gained from them can be translated in the myriad real life situations to come out as a winner. By giving a successful performance in a concert one becomes a good manager in all respects. It is a real victory over many impediments. Other benefits: Music can be done by the handicapped people such as the blind ones who possess very good ear for music to pick up the tune, lyrics, accent and rhythm easily. Music is a better art than dance for it can be practised by any body whereas demand of dance is a charm of beautiful look and active body movement which remain no longer in the old age. Dance is a good form of physical exercise to keep body and mind hale and hearty.