Whatever we do in life, whatever our hands find to do, one thing that could make it fruitful and profitable is the work of consistency. This has been one of the backbone reasons why we find many persons to be known and excelling in one form of craft or the other; arts, science, technology, design, music. The infamous quote by one of the greatest philosophers known to humanity, Aristotle, suggests the same. It reads, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
The subject of consistency is all-encompassing. It runs through everything possible. One other quote I like about this subject is that which says “Consistency is key.” Just a simple one, but I believe it should mean a lot more to the music world, maybe because of the ‘key’ mentioned in the quote. Chuckles. It's undeniable that one place consistency is key, needful and necessary is the world of music. If consistency is key, what then is its role in music?
As much as talent is important and appreciated in the music space, consistency, hard work and growth cannot be neglected. It's possible for that music talent to just lie within the individual, and find no true expression because it wasn't built through consistent effort and training. If there's a thing I know many expect, and desire quality and something substantial is music. Good music is soothing to the soul, blissful to the listener and a joy to the singer as well. So, you don't expect that such would come without some consistency leading to excellence.
I believe I can say that not all who do music today grew up with that talent, some attained that excellence through consistent efforts to achieve that height, and they did. Some were fortunately born with the talent or into a family where music was a way of life. But one thing for sure is that the talented one will remain that way if he or she doesn't put themself through some practice or training, and that consistently.
The role of consistency in music plays well, like in almost every aspect of human endeavour where we hope to prevail and excel. Even evil acts thrive and find success in consistency. The place of consistency cannot be overemphasised. If indeed what we need is good music, then consistency is a must. Consistency is what makes one grow and makes others want to listen to him or her. It brings about development, advancement and potential.
When the subject of consistency is removed from music, then we can be said to be far from achieving anything good in music. May I also highlight that the idea about consistency shouldn't be a perfectionist one, no. It's about putting constant efforts, striving to get better, desiring to learn new things, and doing them tirelessly and continuously. And when one fails, they go back again. So, consistency goes with tenacity, the resilience to be better and do better. When there's consistency in place, then comes excellence, and good soothing, pleasing music.