Re: "Watching the World" by Triple Play

[Cathi Norton <cathi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Tue, 2 Mar 2004, G. wrote:
 
>   So, I think the key thing is to remember why you love music, what drew you
> to playing music, what you enjoy most out from your playing, listening and
> learning music. To focus on that, to concentrate on develpoing the skills,
> knowledge and putting it into practice to make it possible for you to get
> where you want to go  .... and that involve exploring what is possible as
> you learn about stuff you were previously unaware of that set you in a new
> fulfilling direction.

And...
 
> I've met a few seasoned musicians who lost sight of what drew them to music,
> and as a result gave it up for many years, they usually talk about a decade
> to two decades, and they really really regret that time away from music.
> 
>   For me its about expressing what words can't express, and sharing the
> experience & feeling of music with the musicians you play with.

And...
 
>   Email lends itself to technical discussion, so theres debates about comb &
> cover materials, discussion and advice on repair, customising, tuning &
> meddling with reeds, not to mention our little world of community politics,
> it is easy to get caught up in these discussions and forget about actually
> playing music.


Thanks to "G" for clearly stating a point I recently tried to make by 
quoting Jimmy Reed and grinning at his "I ain't no musician" remark.  I 
got jumped but good for that, but I was trying to say -- don't forget what 
draws you to the music in the first place.  

I have talked to a lot of old-timer musicians and often wondered why, in 
so many lives, there were periods when they put the instrument down -- 
sometimes for decades.  Economics always played a part, but greater than 
that, was a loss of connection to what initially drew them...the 
sound/feeling and expression of the music...(and often the 
ravages of the environment played a part too).

Sometimes in print, it seems to me -- the feeling and connection of the 
music gets lost underneath the barrage of technical discussion.  It's dang 
easy for a newcomer to get overwhelmed. While I agree that 
learning is a fine thing, I like to remember that music is a great 
leveler. I think it's worth remembering that you don't 
have to know how to do open-harp-surgery to get and give joy in music.  
Joe Filikso once told me that the secret to teaching is to stay connected 
to that-- don't ever give the student too much at once...just enough to 
keep him/her connected to the joy (of learning and exploration) and not so 
much information (even out of generosity) that he/she gets overwhelmed.  
That blew my head open in a variety of ways and improved my teaching skills
 incredibly.  Upon hearing it, I thought, "of course!"  but it's a 
little harder to pull off.

So play for the joy of it -- no matter what the "inner (OR outer) 
committee(s)" is (are) telling you.    

That's my story and I'm stickin' with it.

Cathi N.