It has been said that art is a divine expression. The untouched block of marble contains the form of the sculpture within it. Michaelangelo, when creating his sculpture of David, spent the first two months sitting in the room with the marble block, staring at it. When the church, the organization who commisioned Michaelangelo for the work, demanded that he prove he had been working, he told them that he was waiting for God to show him the form of David inside the block, so that he could remove all the marble around the form of David. He wasn't creating the sculpture, he was removing all the excess marble around the sculpture to reveal the form which already existed in the marble. At first they thought he was crazy, and almost fired him on the spot. Of course we all know how the finished product turned out - it stands today as one of the most amazing accomplishments in the world of art and sculpture.

Music to me is a similar experience. Any particular song has a true essence. It speaks to the songwriter, and the songwriter responds by "creating it", but really the song writer is just trying to strip away all the "nonsense" to reveal the song within. A band's job in performing the song is identical - it's the job of the band to express the true essence of a song, by NOT playing things that aren't part of the songs true essence.

A sculptor or artist has certain tools and materials that help him create (or discover) his artwork, and the musician also has tools to better express the song, and him/herself. The music is the paint, the notes and chords are the colors. The tonality of the instrument would be like the brushstrokes - heavy distortion would be thick heavy strokes where a light organ sound would be thin, light strokes. The intention in which something is played is like the overall "tone" of a piece (dark and brooding, light and airy, etc), and the lyrics and melody tell the story.

When we first learn a song, it's like a rough piece of marble in a shape which may resemble the actual song. Through time and patience, the band's job is to remove anything that takes away from that essence. It's a very humbling experience, if done correctly, and encourages the musician to not force himself or his "style" into the song, but to let the song speak to him and tell him what is needed. If the musician can quiet his own voice long enough to allow that experience to happen, he allows the true essence of the song to shine through. When that happens, the song has a life and character of its own - which is natural to its essence since that is how it existed all along. Ironically, during this process of quieting your voice is when your true voice appears. It's a mystical process that we can only hope to be an active part of, another aspect of the gift of music and how we don't truly create it, we're just fortunate to be a part of it.

I believe that when we are truly touched by some piece of music or artwork, really moved by something on a deep level, it's because the artist has touched on something beyond himself, something universal and powerful. We as listeners or viewers are put into touch with the same spirit that moved the artist to create it. Just as the artist was merely a channel for that expression, so the listener (or viewer) also becomes a channel in experiencing it. That to me is what makes all forms of art so important to our understanding ourselves and each other, and things even beyond our comprehension. Artist and spectator both become equal participants in the experience of expression.