How My Musical Training Has Helped Me Learn How to Code
As a professional oboist turned full-stack developer, I‘ve discovered that my decades of musical training have given me a unique advantage in learning to code. The mental models, problem-solving techniques, and creative thinking I developed through studying music have translated remarkably well to the world of programming.
The Musician‘s Mindset
My journey in music began at age 5 with piano lessons. I later picked up the oboe in middle school band, which became my primary instrument through college. Pursuing music seriously taught me discipline, dedication, and patience. Malcolm Gladwell‘s famous "10,000-hour rule" says that achieving mastery in a skill requires an enormous time investment—and that matches my experience studying oboe.
Countless hours in the practice room honing techniques, learning new pieces, and pushing myself to improve instilled in me a strong work ethic and growth mindset. I learned that consistent, focused effort is the path to proficiency. These traits have served me well in my transition to coding.
When I first started learning JavaScript, the syntax looked completely foreign. But I approached it like I would a new piece of music:
- Break it down into smaller sections
- Slowly work through each part until I understood it
- Practice until I could put the pieces together fluently
Applying this systematic method, I gradually built up my programming skills, one concept at a time. Just like learning a challenging concerto, it required patience and persistence. But the deep satisfaction of finally mastering a difficult section was the same in coding as in music.
Beyond the Practice Room
Playing music, particularly in ensembles, also taught me valuable collaboration and communication skills. In an orchestra, each musician must synchronize with the group, follow the conductor, and blend their sound. Individuals have to listen closely to each other and adjust their playing to achieve a cohesive performance.
This experience translates well to working on a development team. Like an orchestra, a successful software project requires:
- Each programmer to coordinate with the team
- Following established conventions and style guides (the "conductor")
- Ensuring your code integrates harmoniously with others‘ work
- Listening to and incorporating feedback to improve the overall product
Just as a single out-of-tune player can throw off an entire ensemble, a coder who doesn‘t collaborate effectively can derail a software project. My background playing in orchestras, bands, and chamber groups gave me a strong foundation in the teamwork skills essential for coding career success.
Another area where my musical training has given me a leg up is performing under pressure. As an oboist, I had to audition for highly competitive spots, perform exposed solos, and record nerve-wracking high stakes performances. Through experience, I learned to manage my anxiety, focus under scrutiny, and deliver when it mattered most.
These high-pressure situations are not unlike whiteboarding sessions, live coding challenges, or technical interviews—staples of the programmer job seeking process. The mental toughness and poise I developed through recitals and auditions has definitely made me a more confident and collected coder.
Music Theory & Programming
At the heart of both music and coding are rich symbol systems used to express ideas. Musical notation, like a programming language, can look intimidating at first glance with its intricate visual grammar of lines, circles, and glyphs. But with immersion, it becomes a natural mode of thinking.
As I learned more music theory, I started noticing intriguing parallels with programming concepts. The basic elements of each have a lot in common:
| Music | Coding |
|---|---|
| Pitch | Data type |
| Rhythm | Control flow |
| Dynamics | Conditionals |
| Harmony | Object-oriented programming |
| Form | System architecture |
To illustrate, let‘s consider a basic C major scale:
C D E F G A B C 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
In music, this is a sequence of pitches ascending by step. In coding terms, it‘s an array of characters, indexed from 1 to 8. We can represent it in JavaScript like so:
const cMajorScale = [‘C‘, ‘D‘, ‘E‘, ‘F‘, ‘G‘, ‘A‘, ‘B‘, ‘C‘];We could write a function to print out each note:
function playScale(scale) {
for (let i = 0; i < scale.length; i++) {
console.log(scale[i]);
}
}
playScale(cMajorScale);Here, we‘re looping through the array and console logging each element in order, similar to playing a scale one note at a time.
Now let‘s add some rhythm. In music, you could play this scale with quarter notes, with each note lasting one beat. In JavaScript, we could represent this with a function that uses setTimeout to delay each note by a quarter second:
function playScaleWithRhythm(scale, tempo) {
for (let i = 0; i < scale.length; i++) {
setTimeout(() => {
console.log(scale[i]);
}, tempo * i);
}
}
playScaleWithRhythm(cMajorScale, 250);We‘ve added a tempo argument to control the speed of playback. A tempo of 250 milliseconds corresponds to a moderate 4 beats per second.
Of course, this just scratches the surface, but it illustrates how musical concepts like pitch and rhythm can map surprisingly well to programming constructs like data structures and timing.
On a higher level, the way a composer develops and structures musical ideas mirrors how a software architect organizes the components of a system. Both involve establishing themes, varying and developing them, and creating a cohesive arc. Studying Beethoven and Bach gave me an appreciation for elegant structure and modular design that carries over into how I plan and build programs.
Practicing the Craft
Perhaps the most profound parallel between music and coding is the importance of consistent, deliberate practice. Just as playing scales and etudes is essential for mastering an instrument, focused exercises and projects are critical for becoming a skilled programmer.
Research has shown that musicians‘ brains exhibit enhanced memory, executive function, and pattern recognition abilities compared to non-musicians. For instance, a 2018 study found that "musicians showed better working memory capacity" and "were able to sustain higher levels of performance over long periods of time during the most difficult task conditions."
These cognitive benefits likely stem from the "deliberate practice" that musicians routinely engage in. Deliberate practice involves focused, goal-directed efforts to improve performance in a specific area through:
- Taking on challenges just beyond your skill level
- Receiving immediate feedback on results
- Concentrating deeply with minimal distractions
- Repeating and refining through trial and error
This concept, popularized by psychologist Anders Ericsson, is key to achieving expertise in music, chess, sports—and yes, programming. Author Cal Newport argues that deliberate practice is the most effective way for coders to refine their craft in his book So Good They Can‘t Ignore You.
The difference between deliberate practice and normal practice is the difference between rapidly improving at a skill and slowly plateauing.
As a musician, I spent hours every day engaged in this type of practice. I tackled difficult passages, experimented with phrasing and technique, recorded myself, and continually made adjustments. This disciplined approach accelerated my progress.
When I began coding, I took the same tack. I sought out progressively harder problems on platforms like HackerRank and Project Euler to hone my programming chops. I took meticulous notes on new concepts I was learning. And I built increasingly sophisticated projects, subjecting my code to peer review.
Just as there are no shortcuts to mastering an instrument, there are no shortcuts to becoming an excellent developer. But approaching coding with the rigor and commitment of music practice can turbocharge your learning.
Exercising Creativity
Creative expression and problem solving are core to both music and coding. While the media are different, the imaginative spark is the same. Musicians and programmers alike must generate novel ideas, find inventive solutions, and create meaningful output.
As an oboist, interpreting a piece of music was a chance to put a personal stamp on it. I made decisions on phrasing, dynamics, articulation, and tone to craft a unique musical statement and stir emotions in the audience. Subtle choices, like using vibrato on a particular note or a breath before a pivotal point, allowed me to tell a story.
Coding offers similar opportunities for individuality within its logical constraints. How a programmer names variables, organizes functions, and architects systems all involve creativity. We can code the same program in 100 different ways, but the most elegant and expressive designs reflect the coder‘s artistic voice.
Solving thorny coding problems also relies heavily on "outside-the-box" thinking. Like a composer who finds a surprising but perfect chord to resolve a musical phrase, an imaginative software engineer discovers that just-right algorithm or refactoring that makes everything click into place. Melding logic and art is the key to coding that is both effective and aesthetically appealing.
Bringing It All Together
Looking back, I‘m grateful for the myriad ways my musical education set me up for success as a coder. The countless hours I invested in the practice room cultivated discipline, resilience, and attention to detail. Performing with ensembles and in high-stakes situations taught me collaboration and grace under pressure. Studying theory and composition honed my analytical thinking and creative problem solving.
Most of all, music instilled in me a deep love of the learning process. Picking up an instrument and starting from square one is humbling. But embracing the beginner‘s mindset, breaking things down, and practicing deliberately led me to achieve things I never dreamed possible at the outset.
When I first started dabbling in code, I brought that same attitude. I wasn‘t afraid to fail because I knew that debugging and troubleshooting were part of the path. Each moment of frustration was an opportunity to learn and grow.
Whether you dream of playing at Carnegie Hall or deploying a cutting-edge app, know that the journey will be long, winding, and full of unexpected challenges. But if you approach it with the discipline and passion of a musician, you‘ll find those efforts repaid handsomely over time.
So, fellow musicians, let‘s bring our creative spark to the world of code. It‘s time for our next performance.