There's an underappreciated part of music making that I rarely see represented in music curriculum unless you're in an actual music school: Playing with other p

There's an underappreciated part of music making that I rarely see represented in music curriculum unless you're in an actual music school: Playing with other people. I don't mean playing together as an ensemble where the music is already written - though that is important. I mean PLAYING and improvising. Exploring. Simply having fun. Developing your ear, not only for your instrument, but how to listen and react to your collaborators. Making mistakes. Going off-road and being wildly experimental. That's such an important component of what makes music wonderful. Even if you don't have an audience to perform to, and even if you and your friends are objectively terrible it is FUN to express yourself and to synchronize with your friends and have a laugh when you do something satisfying. As you all mature you become tuned-in to your band. You work as a unit. You surprise each other. You keep each other fresh. You learn to listen deeper and deeper. You discover ways to interpret the same composition several different ways. It becomes a playground. Perhaps most importantly, there are ZERO RULES. Nobody dies if you play the wrong chord. So you go big. You learn to take risks and occasionally you surprise yourself with what's possible. Music (and perhaps art and creativity in general) demonstrate that so much in life is malleable. That things don't have to be a certain way. That most of it is open to negotiation.