Coldplay’s Magic Up & Up as Farewell Song

When it comes to rock music, one of the reasons for Britain to be proud in this regard is the fact that it’s homeland to one of the best alternative rock bands of today – Coldplay. Since 1996 when it was formed by Chris Martin and Jonny Buckland, the band has released 7 studio albums, the latest being recorded in 2015. The good thing is that it’s a bright work, the bad thing – perhaps it’s a farewell studio work of the legendary music artists.

“A Head Full of Dreams”, that’s how it’s titled, is a set of 11 beautiful conceptual songs, the final being ‘final’ in many senses. It’s titled “Up & Up” (the sheet music is available here), and it’s a perfect way to make a pause in creating music, which is the band’s intention, according to their frontman Chris Martin. The song is dreamy, poignant but at the same time full of hope and encouragement. Ever a wider spectrum of emotions is caused after watching the impossible music video to this song.

It makes one’s mind expand because of the extraordinary surreal imagery used. A pop-corn erupting volcano, an underwater-flying eagle and Chris-Martin-the-Gulliver resting between the mountains and the ocean. The stunningly unusual perspectives are only part of the whole thing. The lyrics, accompanied by the speaking visuals, touch upon some of the most important social and political issues of today and call for fixing all that’s gone wrong with humanity.

I love works like that, truly. When music turns from a fun-to-listen thingy into a powerful tool of sending a message to the mankind. With the scale of influence Coldplay has on the hearts and minds of their broad audience, songs like that could hopefully change something.

Longest Piano Concert in the World (Chilly Gonzales)

They say that the more you practice the better. That practicing should be a never-ending process and you could spend your life doing it and still find a lot to master. There’s a very true-to-life tip as far as practicing goes:

Best Practicing Tip

But how much can a person actually play the instrument on end? I was curious to find the answer and did some googling recently. From tips of advice on the necessary amount of time to practice per day (a few hours is a must), I then go to the extremes of the matter.

People love setting records and beating them. To try oneself, to push the limits, to prove something to people, to be the winner and realize one’s absolute uniqueness (on the planet!) – these are perhaps the major aims of such record-setters. I got curious what a musician can be capable of in terms of performing. There a lot of interesting music records in the Guinness Book of Records, like the longest career as performer/music teacher, the most prolific creative life, the loudest player, the fastest player, and so many more. But I was mostly interested in how long a person can spend at his/her favourite instrument.

Below you can see a video excerpt from the piano concert by the Canadian pianist and composer known as Chilly Gonzales. How long do you think a solo concert can last? 27 hours! Can you imagine? The musician spent all that time beside his piano, performing for the public. Of course, the entire experiment was performed under the guidance of a team of specialist including doctors, etc. However, it left me amazed by what humans can actually do if they do not lack ardor and motivation.