Music lessons are a funny thing. They push you, challenge you. But they don't always do it with music you enjoy. Like an athlete in a grueling workout, the goal is to get stronger, even though it hurts. Sometimes the music is tedious but it strengthens your fingers. It helps you to improve and move forward.

But there are times when working like this can hold you back. You can become so consumed with getting better that you lose sight of the bigger picture. An obsession with getting better can distract and redirect you away from your real goal - to enjoy music, to share it, to inspire and entertain. In other words, it can prevent you from "playing."

In music you are meant to play. You are encouraged to have fun and to be creative. You play an instrument. You play with other musicians. You play a song. You play music. You don't beat it with club.

I took piano lessons for several years when I was young. At one point I pushed myself to learn a difficult piece. It was a wild ride, all over the place. And it took a long time to learn. I wondered, more than once, was it really worth the time and effort?

When I finally learned it and performed it for my parents, my Dad remarked, "That sounded difficult." He didn't say he liked it. And neither did anyone else. And I didn't like it either. It was a chore. It was fast and complicated - a deliberate mess. It was difficult and it was meant to be that way. I proved I could do it and I learned a few things from studying and working through it. But the most important thing I learned was that "it sounded difficult." Not fun, not sad, not beautiful, just difficult.

What I really learned, the thing I've tried to take with me on my musical journey, the thing I have sometimes been criticized for, is this: In music, taking the easy way is usually not a bad thing. The simple way, the intuitive way, is usually more joyful, more moving, more beautiful. It flows easier. It communicates more clearly, more sincerely, without the distractions of unnecessary complications. It comes from the heart. It's the reason why the simplest, unadorned folk song is just as likely to move someone to tears as a great symphony.

Music can be hard, but it usually doesn't need to be.