So recently I had an incredible day of music. First of I woke up to one of my favorite songs of all time playing on the radio: Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings. A truly inspired work that has drama, tension and passion. I highly recommend to most people to get a recording of this work if possible.
Afterwords I went to a Marketing Meeting for the Provo Downtown Alliance. I know not a huge musical idea, but we talked about how to bring people to the downtown Provo, UT area and one of the ideas I mentioned was to hold a Native American Festival. We could invite Native American Flute Players, Native drumming groups, and Dancers and have a nice little festival out of it. One of my favorite Flute players is Joseph Fire Crow who went to school @ BYU. In the heat of great discussion I had to excuse myself, because I was extremely excited about the next part of my day.
I was about to have a Bass lesson with Victor Wooten. For those who don't know Victor Wooten, he is wildly considered the greatest living Bass player today. Many players aspire to be able to play his arrangements of Norwegian Wood and Amazing Grace as well as many other songs. Now I am an incredible elementary bass player, but I figured if I had the chance to have a lesson with one of the greatest anything around ... I would be an idiot to pass that up. So Vic (he said I could call him that 
), asked me what I wanted to work on. I told him that I was very beginning so if he could show me some techniques then that would help me get off the ground running. I mentioned that I really liked his song Classical Thump and that seemed like a good place to start on technique. The next hour was a whirlwind of information that had me playing techniques that were new and exciting. I'm a guitar player at heart and it showed repeatedly during the lesson, which Vic was really nice about. He kept saying that I was different than most beginning students because I played lightly instead of really heavy. I chuckled and said that was because I'm strumming instead of thumping ... I'm working on it.
So the hour flew by, and at the end of it all I had a great moment where I started to feel like I could attempt Classical Thump. And afterwords I felt really good. I know that I'm not as experienced as Victor Wooten (heck I tell most of my students to not judge themselves by how I play because I've been doing it longer) and that I'm an infant in the world of bass, but I tried and that was what was important to me. I wanted to take advantage of a great instructor and garnish and learn. I did that, and now I play to keep that technique up and running. It has also given me a different approach to some of my guitar things ... which is also a great thing.
But my day was far from over. After my moment with Vic, I took my brother out for a spin in my new Volkswagen Jetta. He hadn't seen the new car so I thought that I would show off a little. During the ride we talked about how much I don't like the car stereo and how I wish it had different functions and features. I like the sound of the speakers, but the stereo is not as functional as I would like. As we sat talking in front of The Music School I put on a recent album that I've been listening to: Bruce Springsteen's and the E Street Band, Magic. There's a line in the song that really struck me at that moment:
I just want to hear some rhythm
I want a thousand guitars
I want pounding drums
I want a million different voices speaking in tongues
So after having a moment of inspiration with Vic, talking Native Music and the spirituality in that style, and speaking about sounds with my brother, all I really wanted was a thousand guitars, pounding drums, and a million different voices. So I went home in search of that sound. I dropped of my bass and went to work to see if I could work on some things for some clients ... still hoping for my ensemble of wonderment. My friend Bryan Pope Architect and Director of My Marketing Day sent me a text that asked what time the Victor Wooten clinic was and that he doesn't think that he would make it. I responded, with a million different voices in my head, you really need to go to this clinic.
Long story short, he went, as did I, and it was incredible. This is my 3rd time seeing Victor Wooten in a clinic and 4th time seeing him play ... and they are always really great. I don't know if I can summarize what he says, but if I can be permitted in short his clinic is not about technique (and it is) or really about playing (and really it is), but his clinic is about how he is music. And by virtue of that statement, if he is music YOU are music. The limitation that most people have is that they believe that they need to UNDERSTAND before they can PLAY!! But if you ARE music, then all you need to do is PLAY!!!! Music will take over the rest. A lot of what Vic talked about is in his book The Music Lesson. And this is a great read for musicians and non-musicians alike and has a lot of application to everyday life and not only music. The key is to be observant of the connections.
So after an amazing clinic and conversing with students from the Music School and my friend Bryan, I went home. The problem with my mind is that I find it wanders A LOT!!! I'll have and idea and there goes my mind focusing on that idea. The continuing thought that I had was this nagging feeling that small business owners would have gotten a lot out of that clinic. That the applications of getting out of ones way to let success enter is an area that many owners struggle. That one idea, "Music is all around us" can very easily be translated to "Success is all around us." We just need to get out the way sometimes to let it work.
Be willing to let go of an idea and let it germinate into something better.
Be willing to make the mistake and find the better solution.
Be willing to include others in the conversation to make the seedling grow instead of thinking it has to be only you.
These are all ideas that I took from Vic about playing music. But they work so nicely with business. And I've seen, and been a part of, many successful projects that integrate those ideas ... both in music and in business. I just find it refreshing to see truth in both worlds. So now I'm attempting to not worry about making the mistake. I'm going to PLAY and see where that takes me. And at some point ... because of that thought ... I know Vic is smiling.
Thanks Mr. Wooten.