Surrounded By Music

I spent this past weekend at the Harvest Jamboree of the Minnesota Bluegrass and Old-Time Music Association. I am a rank beginner at the guitar, even after 40+ years of on and mostly off-again attempts. I am doing better and this was my first journey into the festival/jamboree world.

What fun! Pickin', and grinnin', and listenin'. I sat on the outside of a couple jams watching the more experienced guitar players, catching the rhythms and chords, attempting my own variations on the breaks quietly in the background, getting the feel and the "groove." (More on that in a moment.)

Then to sit and listen to the headliner groups on Saturday night- The Rarely Herd from Ohio and Tangled Roots from right here in Minnesota (who will be the faculty band at our Mt. Morris Jam Camp next August.) Aaah. Quality, joy, fun, laughter, being touched by that which is greater than any one of us alone. Music.

Music is a simple word that comes from ancient Greek- the art of the muses- the very inspiration of the arts. For this weekend I realized at one point that from beginning to end I was being surrounded by music. If I was sitting anywhere in the lobby of the hotel, down the hall by the ballrooms or back in the corner reading a book music was swirling and moving and catching me. When I was playing my guitar, alone or with a jam, I was in the flow- in the conversation- the groove.

A few weeks ago I had seen a book by Victor Wooten online, The Music Lesson. Wooten is a remarkable bass player with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones and other places. His music moves across the spectrum, leaving awe and wonder in his wake. In the first chapter of the book he talks about music as language. He beautifully connects that with our other language- speech. We don't practice that language alone, picking one letter at a time. We "jam" with the conversations from the very beginning, even when we don't know a thing about language. We learn from doing- and being.

We learn from being in the groove, by being surrounded by the music and living in it just as we do with our language. After decades of listening to jazz and bluegrass music I often find myself "singing" an instrumental riff along with the CD or mp3. I have often said I can hear it in my head- and even sing it- but I just can't move it to my trumpet or my guitar. Well, Wooten has challenged me to re-think that. Maybe I haven't been able to move it there because I haven't jammed with anyone else on it. Maybe I have to get the groove when I have my trumpet or guitar in hand.

When I do even the simple and basic approach like this past weekend, I find myself moved into places I hadn't known existed before. I find myself tuning in to the music that is always there- but not always audible because I drown it out. The weekend was an excellent kick in the pants to keep the guitar out and played on a regular basis.