"Learning music by reading about it is like making love by mail"

Luciano Pavarotti’s colorful metaphor offers both a playful and profound commentary on how deeply experiential learning is, particularly in the realm of music. His words highlight the inherent limitations of attempting to grasp the true essence of music exclusively through intellectual or theoretical study. Reading about music, studying its history, its notation, its theory, certainly provides valuable context and necessary tools, but it cannot alone communicate the sensory and emotional world that music inhabits. The act of making music is physical; it involves breath, movement, subtle intuition, and often, the unpredictable spark of inspiration in real-time.

Just as the intimacy and immediacy of love cannot be replicated through correspondence, the alive thrill of music emerges only when it is played, sung, or listened to with presence and attention. Pavarotti, renowned for his ability to evoke deep emotion in audiences, understood that music is more than notes on a page or words on a textbook, it’s a living form that requires direct involvement. Feeling vibrations through the body, responding in the moment to other performers or the acoustics of a space, discovering the nuance of phrasing or timbre, and even making mistakes, are all essential parts of truly learning music. These visceral and sensory experiences are crucial for a holistic understanding and appreciation.

Furthermore, this perspective underscores the importance of practice and lived experience. No amount of analytical knowledge can substitute for the discipline and joy of hands-on engagement. To attempt to learn music only by reading denies its physicality and the subtle communication it provides. Ultimately, Pavarotti asserts that to fully realize the beauty and expressiveness of music, one must move beyond theory and into action, embracing the vulnerability and exhilaration that come with performing, listening, and participating. Only then can music’s deeper mysteries be truly encountered.