INTERVIEW: ROBERT HAIG COXON – BECOMING A WORLD FAMOUS MUSICIAN

Children have such busy schedules these days. So much so that parents think twice before sending them for music classes. After all, some may figure that’s it’s better to the child to master schoolwork than spend hours on music.

When bodymindsoul Magazine interviewed world-renowned composer and solo artist Robert Haig Coxon, we brought up this matter. Who better to ask than a person who started out on music as a toddler? Today, he is said to have sold half a million copies of his own instrumental albums, performs at international concerts and composes for television programmes.

Here’s what the Canadian musician who is now in his 70s had to say about music and children. “Music is so powerful. Children who have studied music have better access to understanding mathematics and they are much more able to visualize at a 3D level and spatially in their mind.”

He also pointed out that research shows that children who study music become better architects and scientists. “It’s important. But it’s also important to not make them study music because you want them to be some famous pianist or violinists. I see so much of that.”

He also had a vital tip for parents who have been wondering when to start their child on music. “It’s important to study music very young to bring out the genius in the child. Music is the basis of the universe. It’s sad that a lot of schools in North America are leaving out music.”

The maestro himself first sat at the piano when he was one and a half years old. Inspiration to write his first piano piece came when he was ten.

In his case, he had two loving grandmothers to thank for his path on producing soul-touching instrumental music.

Grannies’ Loving Influence

Other than his parents, both of Coxon’s grandmothers were a huge influence on him. First there was the grandmother with the piano. Though she herself had had only one piano lesson in her whole life, she played amazingly well.

She is the one who taught Coxon easy piano pieces from the time he was one and a half years old. At 9 years old, she sort of bribed him. If he took proper lessons, she promised to give him her piano. Her heartfelt sacrifice saw him starting on classical music. Much later in life, he learnt how to play jazz and popular music.

The other grandmother, who lived in New York city, was always off to lectures on metaphysics and spirituality. Coxon calls her “pre-new ager” as instead of the term “new age”, “new thought” was used.

This grandmother studied with great masters that came to the city. At about 7 or 8, she taught Coxon about spirituality and programming himself. Which explains why when people started talking about chakras much later, he already knew all about it.

Teaching Music

The musician recalled the early years when he used to teach a high school band as well as privately. “My students had to be well-rounded. I was teaching them classical music and also how to dance.” You might be wondering why he did that. “It was important for them to feel the music,” he stressed.

There are many tips to learn from this maestro. For instance he likes the trombone as a learning tool. “It helps to learn how to breathe. Pianists don’t understand that. If you know how to breathe, you can make any instrument sound better.”

As young child, music was not the only thing he excelled at. “I enjoyed art as a child, mainly painting and drawing. I could have been steered into that artistic world. I ran a graphic arts business at about 15 years of age until I was 25. I did a whole lot of things like designing logos for companies and printing for businesses and rock bands.”

When it was time to enter university, he struggled as to whether he should opt for music or art. “Eventually I came to the conclusion that you don’t have to study art. But I had to learn about music as there are so many things to write about.”

He studied six years of music at McGill University. He also has a teaching diploma and what he calls “half a masters degree”! If he had not gone into music, he feels he would have ventured into the arts, perhaps the film industry.

Music That Heals Children

Coxon’s music is used for meditation and healing purposes worldwide. He has noticed that many autistic children love his music. “Their mind is outside their body. My music is channeled. It is from heaven. If you play the music here in the 3D world, it creates the same energy outside the body. It’s a familiar comforting energy for them. It encourages them to come back to their heaven and to speak.”

That’s not all.

In Chile, in South America, there was a school that had gigantic problems with bullying. When they played his music, the bullying stopped. However, when a new principal came in, the music was stopped. Needless to say, the bullying returned. Fortunately the new principal brought the music back.

Instruments That Heal You

“I love the piano and am glad I’m a pianist. It’s the easiest instrument to use as a compositional tool,” he said. Though many know Coxon more for his work on the piano, he does play other musical instruments.

“I love violin and even more, I love the viola for its mellow tone. On my album ‘Silent Path II’, I have an oboe player. You can make this instrument sound like a beautiful swan or an ugly duck!”

Coxon diligently practices chi qong and na gong in the mornings followed by meditation. He believes in the traditional Chinese medicine approach of how emotions are stored in different part of the body. He went on to say that, “Each organ has a corresponding instrument. For example, in Chinese medicine the liver is associated with anger. The opposite of anger is joy and happiness. The oboe works really well with getting rid of anger.

The oboe can sound angry and frustrated. It’s a difficult instrument to play. Oboe players look like their faces are going to pop because of the restrictions. It’s like people.  Instead of expressing anger, people store it in their liver.”

He points out how French horns in film music makes you feel inspired. “It’s an ‘I can climb that mountain’ feeling, which works on the kidneys. People who have fears and lack self-confidence always have lower back pain. They can listen to this sort of music.”

The instruments he chooses for his albums are those that create beauty. “All music is therapeutic. For me, music has to sound beautiful. After my album ‘Prelude to Infinity’, I choose instruments that would bring you beyond the veil to see your own beauty and express that beauty. To go beyond superficial beauty to the inner self.”

Is His Success Plain Luck?

Coxon was quick state that he studied and played the piano instead of being out playing with other kids. Also, his work differs from that of “commercial” musicians as his creations are channeled.

“When you channel through the music, you need the right energy. I’m constantly studying new things. The universe has access to these tools that I have. Get the training, be versatile and know what is your pure intent and purify yourself.  You cannot be the channel if there’s not a lot of purity coming through.”