talkmagic.co.uk

Bass, Guitar, Drums and Piano since Jr. High. I think is does help with dexterity, but the calluses on the fingertips interferred with some sleights.

^

They have never bothered me...

mccabe24 wrote: They have never bothered me...

Really, I found that the interfeared with strike D/L's.

Not mine . This is strange... I've been playing for six years, so my calluses are pretty hard by now too.

I play the guitar and bass...
I play bass in a band called Reality Cheques:
www.myspace.com/realitycheques



I am quite impressed by the amount of musicians around here...

I think its very similar hobby playing guitar and doing magic

I play fiddle, bagpipes, didjeridoo

Playing an instrument may help your dexterity, but - far more valuable - it also teaches you how to practise.

Practise cards, coins etc the way you practise your instrument and watch your ability rocket!!

Alot of people have said that they feel their musicianship has helped their magic and vice versa which i suppose might be true but my thoughts are that it is more based on they type of people that are drawn to both types of hobbies. I'm sure you've all noticed that most of the people who have owned up to the dual Musician/Magician trait play guitar or piano/keyboard mostly, and not something like the drums (which is more stamina and timing, than manual dexterity).

byron0512 wrote:And yes, I would say that being a musician gives me the edge on picking up tricks. However as a guitarist I get tough bits on the tips of my left hand fingers which is a real nuisance for DL sensitivity! (anyone else get that?)

This strikes me as unusual. If your left fingers have gotten hard then you've been playing guitar right-handed, but if you're feeling for double lifts with your left hand does that mean you handle card left handed? Seems very odd to me.

What I always say, is that magic is a lot less frustrating than music.
As a beginner musician, you suck.
As a beginner magician, you can already amaze people, even though you are doing svengali or dynamic coins, you need to think about the effect in itself, it kicks *rse!!!
As a semi-professional magician, I always take the dynamic coins with me, and I am not ashamed of it. People love it. Coins jumping all over the place, and then changing to another curency in their hands??? that's too much for them!
However, music teaches you to practice.

I play guitar, bass, keyboards and a few other instruments. I'm sure that having flexible fingers that are used to move in different ways, helps a lot with some of the tricks and flourishes. Also rythm, when doing something in sinc.

I play the trombone. I have played in all kinds of bands in the US and UK. Musical performance improves your magical performance. You get a sense of the audience, delivery of solos, etc. There are many transferrable skills from music to magic. I find that jazz improvisation is the best as it prepares you for improv in your magic performance. Your have skills, tools, licks, and tricks in music as much as you do in magic. The math and science behind music also translates well into the math and science behind magic (see some initial ramblings on http://www.drtoddlandman.blogspot.com).

I am incorporating the trombone in a new magic act I am developing....

Woohoo, another Trombonatic!

I've hardly blown down mine since I left school; I was never any good in an exam or audition situation, even though I could perform with a band in front of an audience, so I didn't bother trying to audition for bands at Uni. I regret that a bit now!

Well, I stuck with it after dabbling on the sax and the trumpet...it has finally paid off for me after all these years. Definitely a cool instrument. I have thought of levitating it, playing it, and then vanishing it...then again, I may just have it on stage all through the performance and just play a little diddy for fun!

this is great, i was thinking the same thing about magic an music. Been playing the guitar for 3 years now and i think it really does help with magic, mostly because your used to being able to practice long hours to see a result.