What is the Influence of Drugs on Music?

Hi, and welcome to virtualsheetmusic.com and livingpianos.com. I'm Robert Estrin. Today's question is, "What is the influence of drugs on music?" This is really a loaded question that's bound to gain some controversy. I'm going to try to give a balanced view of this subject which is actually very complex. If you look at the neurology of it to begin with, there's that element. There's also the cultural element. I'm going to try to give both sides of it.

Neurologically, drugs, particularly alcohol, marijuana, and other drugs, have an effect upon suppressing certain parts of the brain. Right brain, left brain. The right brain is noted for its creative element, and the left side tends to be the logical. This is a simplistic view of the brain certainly, and there's many different sections of the brain. Different drugs act on different parts of it. While some people enjoy being able to suppress certain parts of their brain to bring out others, even for the enjoyment of listening to music.

What about the whole cultural aspect of this? It goes very deep. Really, one of the pioneers of bebop jazz, legendary Charlie 'Bird' Parker, he was absolutely a phenomenal musician. Many people wanted to emulate him and he was a drug addict. It ushered in a whole bunch of people. To this day in the rock field, many people do drugs. The Beatles of course, glorified the whole sex, drugs, rock and roll liberation movement so part of it is cultural. If you go back to the early jazz days, black people were a permanent underclass. Working in the clubs was a really rough life. This could've added to it as well. It's a very complex issue.

The question really comes down to are there any benefits to the use of drugs in music. To this question, yes, there could be for some people. There's always an upside and a downside. Some people will actually lose inhibitions for improvised music. For example, it could be beneficial to let go and just let the music go without quantifying with that left brain analysis. Some artists believe that it aids in their creativity. Of course, the balance of utilizing substances that can have deleterious effects over time has to be very well thought out. As you well know, there are many great musicians who suffered tragic losses and death due to drug use.

This is not a simple yes or no question. After all, lots of people love to listen to music or play while having a couple of beers. Alcohol, after all, is a drug. It's all a matter of balance. If you find that you can use drugs like alcohol, pot, and maybe even some people use harder drugs and have great things to share with their music. This is a reality that can not be denied. Whether you've deemed this to be good or bad is a personal choice.

That's the long and short of it. I'd love to hear from you, positive or negative experiences that you've had or that you know of others who have had. I'm sure this is bound to elicit very powerful responses, because this is not a simple subject. I hope this has been enlightening for you and look forward to hearing from all of you here at virtualsheetmusic.com and livingpianos.com. Thanks for joining me, Robert Estrin.

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