music is vital to my existence

Why is Music Important?
Did you know that music making is part of what makes humans human? Every culture makes music. Not only that, every past culture has made music too. Musical instruments are amongst the oldest man-made objects ever found. For example, there are flutes around 37,000 years old and perhaps even older!

Compare this with reading and writing. The earliest forms of writing are no more than about 3500 years old. And many cultures of the world still do not read or write.

Or how about this? Scientists have recently discovered that music affects many parts of our brain very deeply (grown-ups can look at the book This is Your Brain On Music by Daniel Levitin to find out more). But you don't need to be a scientist to understand that! Trying singing 'Happy Birthday' or a Christmas song and you will understand. What do these tunes make you think of? How do they make you feel? You'll be filled with all sorts of memories and feelings when you hear these tunes-many more than would if you simply said the words 'birthday' or 'Christmas'.

Music gets under your skin. It creates strong feelings. And it creates strong memories.

Music is a language. It is a language for all humans. It is a language that is there when normal language is of little use.

In November 2009 the UK remembered two important events. One was the passing of the generation of soldiers