September 16, 2003
A: FROM MENTOR SUZANNE FRANKS IN KS
Alicia, this is a good question - you are trying to find out "what
kind of people do SET work, and would I enjoy hanging out with them?" I used to play the
clarinet in high school - I was in the marching band and the concert band, and one year got
to be concert master in the all-county band! I don't play the clarinet anymore
but I am planning now to buy a piano and begin taking piano lessons - this has been
a lifelong dream of mine that I am finally going to be able to do. I have a good
friend who is a professor of electrical engineering; he plays piano and guitar and plays for himself for pleasure and also with a group of friends in a jazz band on occasion. Many of the
people in SET careers that I know either play an instrument and/or enjoy listening to
music and going to see bands perform live. I can't imagine life without music!
********************
A: FROM MENTOR BARB KONTOGIANNIS IN CO
I play/have played many different instruments. Unfortunately at this point in my life I do not play regularly, but at every college reunion, I always pick up my saxophone and play with the marching band. I started playing piano at age 8, and although I was not very coordinated with the piano, it was a springboard for learning several other instruments. By the time I graduated from high school, I was playing clarinet, oboe, English horn, and tenor saxophone, in groups ranging from marching band, jazz band, symphonic band, school musicals, and even dabbled in a "rock band" with the saxophone. I continued to play saxophone in college, and it tends to be the instrument I will pick up from time to time.
Music was certainly a big part of my life, and I think it helped with logic and mathematical development when I was younger, or at least brought out my aptitude. I'm convinced that music and mathematical aptitude are related - although I don't know for sure if music helps develop those skills, or if musical skills come easier to those who are mathematically inclined. You've asked a very interesting question - I bet you will find that a significant percentage of people in science, engineering, and technology also play or have played musical instruments.

********************
A: FROM MENTOR JOAN LUSK IN RI
Music is a big part of my life. I play the cello, mostly in chamber
music groups. My regular string quartet just finished a 4-day
workshop on Shostakovic's Quartet #8, coached by the Portland String
Quartet, and had a wonderful time learning this deeply moving music.
It was written after WWII in memory of the victims of war and fascism
- and, though Shostakovic couldn't have said so, surely the victims
of communism too.

Playing classical music combines sensual an intellectual pleasures -
a combination I like very much (and used to find in sailing, too).
It's something you can work at all your life and continue to improve
at well into old age. When concepts that had baffled me suddenly
make complete sense and I can play the phrases so that they sound the
way I want, it's a great thrill.

The other good thing about chamber music is that it's not a zero sum
game. When one member of a group does well, everybody "wins". It
teaches cooperation and negotiation rather than aggression.

I go to several weekend workshops and a couple of week-long summer
music camps, where I've met lots of friends to play with on a less
organized basis. In addition to string quartets, trios, quartets,
quintets and sextets, there are similar ensembles with piano and to
some extent with winds, particualarly clarinet. The repertoire is
huge and varied, from quite simple to really challenging. I hope you
can participate too!
********************
A: FROM MENTOR LEE PELLEGRINO-GENSEY IN NJ
I have played piano for many years and participated in musical theater way
back when and find that many scientists have an artistic bent - creativity
is a useful trait for a scientist. I also considered a career in art but
now content myself with doodling in the margins during long meetings.
********************
A: FROM MENTOR MOLLY WILLIAMS IN MI
What a neat question! I play English handbells and hammered
dulcimer, and I dabble a bit on mountain dulcimer and guitar.
You'll find that there are a lot of people in technical professions
who are also musicians. I think the connection has something to do
with our appreciation of symmetry and patterns. There is a similar
correlation with technical careers and some kinds of dancing
(American square dancing, Irish and English set dances, and other
international styles). There are a large number of dance callers
and instructors whose day jobs are in engineering, physics,
mathematics, and computer science. There is a very strong
connection between the technical professions and the arts.

********************
A: FROM MENTOR AIMEE WILLOZ IN MN
Great question, Alicia! I play the flute and I sing. I don't play the
flute much currently, but I am taking voice lessons, which I really enjoy.
I've sung and played flute at churches I've attended since I was in junior
high. I think you're right that there are a lot of people with SET careers
who have music interests, as well.
My mom and I were talking recently about music and how it relates to other
types of intelligence. My mom has a friend who's very creative (and not so
math-inclined as I am). We both translate music from one key to another in
our heads while playing, and we speculated that the mental processes
happening in my head and in her friend's head were probably very different.
For me, it's basically a running math calculation (sort of), but I bet
that's not true at all for her friend. I've never actually asked her
friend to describe the mental process she goes through when she's
transposing in her head. It would be an interesting discussion, I'm sure!