Below is a sample of Facebook comments for a FB community group  called Musicians Unite. They posed the question above, “Why do you play music??” These are some of the hundreds of answers they received. It all pretty much boils down to the same thing.

Was there ever any doubt? tuka

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‪Tracy A. Gaynor‪ It’s inside of me. A force of its own. I started playing piano at the age of five. It’s its own entity within me. Just as I breathe, need water and sustenance, I need music. I play music because it is my very soul.

‪Russell M Price‪ We musicians have a need to do it as well as a love for it. We don’t think  regular people. Our outlook on the world is definitely different. Plus we look cool when we’re on stage. lol

‪John Payne‪ I do it because the constant melodies in my head have to get out somehow . Players know what I am talking about, so do their wives or girlfriends. besides what else could I do with four sets of drums.

‪Robert Bryant‪ Because I have to. ‪Not for money or applause or recognition or anything  that. Just for the pure enjoyment I get out of playing and singing. If i couldn’t sing and play I don’t know what I would do.

‪Corey Shockey‪ I have to create. Music, my woodshop, or whatever. I just love the process of making something out of nothing. If others enjoy my work, great. If not, at least I enjoyed the process of making it happen.

‪Eric Hachey‪ I started loving music when i was 4 i then got a guitar and learned to play sing and write i found out that it brang people together and they danced sang and were happy i still play and I’m 60 next month music is magical life force

‪Graham Byrne‪ it keeps me sane,focused,gives me confidence,stops the bouts of depression,makes me smile,blanks out all the negative people/things in this world,and because my granddad and all the beautiful music that’s inspired me .. oh and because I’m not a great cook or cleaner ‪:)

‪Stanley E. Supranowicz Jr.‪ At first, I had a burning desire to just rock, honestly. Had no illusions of being a rock star. After a while, it became second nature, and I honestly feel I have something to say, and a unique perspective on some things.

‪Steve Barlow‪ My whole life I’ve loved music more than anything, it is the most powerfull force on Earth, and it subconsciously unites strangers.

‪Jonathan Baker‪ Often times I am able to shut out all my problems and escape into a world of sound waves where I can reflect on my life from another perspective. When I write a song it just comes out and I don’t understand it’s meaning until some time later when I play it back and I learn the meaning of my own song.

‪Ron Reed‪ Because I love to play. Started playing at eleven, in school. Trombone, tuba, baritone. After school I learned guitar, then drums. Now I play bass, have been for nearly thirty years. I couldn’t imagine life without playing.

‪Glenn Basil II‪ Becuz it was meant to be, long before I picked up an instrument I’d sing and write lyrics, it just evolved naturally, but then being able to play well enuff to entertain ppl is the real reward, its such a great feeling being able to help ppl forget about their problems and life and just Groove! With or without an audience I’ll always play, I have to. But I was born to play AND entertain!

‪Scott Cardone‪ So many reasons. Pure enjoyment, the once every ten years or so, I give myself the goosebumps , but most of all, it’s the great escape from the reality’s of Life…‪plus it’s an addiction

‪Mark Bertini‪ The story goes I was dancing in the crib before so could walk, whistling before I could talk. Music chose me I didn’t choose music. We have a symbiotic relationship and it runs in my blood and family history.

‪Gary Edmisten‪ Because I can. Plus it helps a great deal that I was born with it in my blood. I am a third generation musician and have always been so grateful to have come from a musically inclined family. Without music I probably would have never amounted to much of anything.

‪Theo Sanders‪ Because it brings joy to others (maybe some pain also when I play as I’m still learning) but it makes me happy also and you get to meet some awesome people. Most of my best friends were made through music. Also it reduces the risks of dementia as it is in my family history. It’s the only activity that requires you to use both sides of your brain.

‪Travis-John Wingert‪ Music is my attempt to externalize representations of my contradictionary life. Music is tactile, but also ephemeral, or abstract, and this allows it to tap straight into the paradox of our minds, foregoing cognitive dissonance. Music is the most influ…See More

‪Bryan Ferguson‪ I’ve asked myself this question so many times, but it’s a passion, if you get paid what you should, it’s great, but an appreciative audience gives you lots back as well, when you can connect with people through music, it is a beautiful thing….I’ve h…See More

‪Emilie Scanlon‪ Because at this point, I can’t live without it. It’s been the core of my life for so long. If I lost my ability to play and to sing, I would lose all reason to live.

‪Brian Lehnert‪ So I don’t kill myself also when your band clicks  that shiver down your spine can’t help but smile  and idiot kind of shit that’s the actual best feeling in the world I’ve never been happier than in those moments

‪Steve Bloom‪ This is why we use a subtle mantra in meditation. Sound is our deepest more easy path to the universal Unified Field of pure energy and consciousness.

‪Isaiah Scott‪ When I see everyone’s shining eyes and joy when I perform, whether classical or rock music, it gives me meaning (especially when I see little kids get sooo excited and sing and dance). I live to play music.

‪Mark Johns‪ You might as well ask why do I breathe because I have to music is ever much a part of my life as eating and breathing

‪Nosforotu Poet‪ No simple answer. The music is a driving force to compliment my poetry and art all are which come from the core of my soul. I need it just  breathing in physical the arts are breathing for my soul.

‪Matthew Downey‪ There isn’t anything else worth doing. And if i didn’t i would probably perish. When i don’t play at least a little i feel physically ill.

‪Al Urezzio‪ At the age of 8 yrs old it created a feeling inside my heart & soul .. so now after 59 yrs , its a way of life .. never to change ..

‪Ernest McDaniel‪ That’s  asking my why I breathe. Music is life. Without music there would be no life. Music is what connects you to your soul and gives you an outlet to express it. Music is the best therapy of all time.

‪Tom Maillie‪ My grandfather had a band and I have memories being mesmerized by watching them play as early as 5 or 6 years old. I knew then that playing music was something I wanted to do.

‪David Kaminester‪ Because I have a burning need to. It’s as simple as that. I have melodies in my head all the time. It would drive me crazy not to dispel that energy.

‪Chet Santia III‪ As a quasi introverted person playing music and performing are what helped me to connect the music became my voice, literally and figuratively! It gave me a voice!

‪Chris Williams‪ I do it because it’s a great way to express feelings and I’m just driven to the art of it and most recently I use it to express praise for God.

‪Ronnie Houston‪ It’s my drug of choice, my medicine. Thanking the creator endowing me with musical skills and creativity, and the ability to use them.

‪Devin Kimmel‪ Because it has become a part of me. It’s the most personal language to speak, and without it, I would have died a long time ago.

‪Claudine Langille‪ Music has always been the center of my universe, and I was really surprised when I got older and learned not everyone is wired that way!

‪André Cruz Glennhammar‪ I know it’s a very typical thing to say, but I didn’t choose to, music just opened my eyes to everything this world has to offer.

‪Ed McCoy‪ Because it’s fun! When you improve to the point where you can play most anything you hear, it’s really a blast!

‪Mark Alaniz‪ If you are given a gift,it should be shared.A song can take you places you might not otherwise be able to go to.

‪Jim Wilbanks‪ I play at church .it is my way of saying thank you to god for my life .family and so on .giving back to him .

‪Tammy Mitchell-Woods‪ I dont have a choice..i cant and wouldnt wnt to be able to separate from it…its a part of me…i HAVE to play

‪Ken Medlock‪ I guess God made me that way. Must be, because I have been involved for 40 + yrs. w/o any former music education ever.

‪Rob Gregson‪ For extra income but if i was doing it full time I’d be homeless an starving lol it’s fun tho an for my on needs

‪Jo Douglass‪ Play. = enjoyment/pleasure derived from a certain activity..why doesn’t everyone music the same way? we are all different notes on the same page? we could wank on for days! **guitarists joke

‪Jerome Blaha‪ …for fun and mental health–

‪Mike Dattilo‪ If I didn’t, I would be dead inside…

‪Isaiah Kavanamur‪ Anyone play music to lose themselves just for a bit

‪James Salisbury‪ Because I love it and because it’s my therapy lol

‪John Billigen‪ For life and to thank the Almighty for blessing me with this TALENT

‪Katie Kayhaos‪ That’s  someone asking me why I breathe..

‪Courtney Daisey‪ Music is who I am. Without music, my soul would be an empty shell, a mere shadow of my true self.

‪Tim Starace‪ I do it for the free pitchers of diet coke…

‪Adam Jago‪ To Escape this cold cold world. And the monster inside me won’t let me think about anything else!

‪Marion Shepherd‪ Music is apart of me I can’t help myself.

‪Steven Militare‪ It is a large part of my soul.

‪Gary Fairbanks‪ It’s a part of who you are!

‪Don Kumpula‪ It’s who I am. To not play isnt even an option.

‪Josh Murrow‪ Simple. So I don’t hit people. I hit the skins. The best release. Both physically and mentally. Just the best release.

‪Jimmy Paul‪ I quote the great Tobiah Hale

‪“I’m just too dumb to quit!!”

‪Larry Johnson‪ Because one day I’ll be a rock star

‪Randall Wilson‪ Because it was bred in my blood !!!!!!

‪Dellwood Washington‪ Music is a part of my life that came with me when I came in this world

‪Jesse Smith‪ Because God gave me the talent to do so.

‪Alberto Pabon‪ Cause the Lord blessed me to do so. I owe it all to him.

‪Hideaki Yamakado‪ Because When I play music, I feel happy. Music makes my life better.

‪Kearon Andrew O’Brien‪ Love the sound of guitar. When l play it makes me feel famous. lol ‪Music is fun

‪Mike Ceely‪ music soothes the savage beast in me .it is the beat a my life

‪DScott Lloyd‪ It’s when I feel the most…. myself. …if that makes sense.

‪Rick Williamson‪ It’s instant gratification and allows me to leave the ground behind.

‪Dalton Mitchell‪ To let out the mean shit talking , anti-establishment but positive empath within.

‪Tom Humpston‪ Because I can’t NOT play music. It’s as much a part of me as breathing.

‪Thomas Hopper‪ I have no idea, I just do.

‪Charles Buie‪ Can’t help it. It’s inside me and wants to come out.

‪Rick Huff‪ I was born with that stuff. Can’t explain it. Just came naturally

‪William Graham Harper‪ To pass on a little love to my fellow man !!!

‪Peter S. Sportino‪ I love it! That it in a nutshell. There is no complicated explaination. That’s it!

‪James Keith Webb‪ That easy I love music it moves my soul!!!!!

…Read the book and harness the power!