Morning Thoughts

There are so many of life’s lessons to be learned from music that it’s hard to start. Maybe this: you have to work at it, music and life.

Now that may sound simple but consider a conversation I once had with a young man who wanted to learn to play guitar. I advised taking lessons from a pro. He said, “I don’t want to take no lessons, waste of time.”

Undeterred, I recommended learning chords and how to strum them in rhythm.

“I done tried that,” he said. “Chords is too hard.”

“Maybe scales?”

“I don’t need no scales or chords,” he said. “Just help me find the tabs to Stairway to Heaven.”

Rule One: You can’t be successful in your chosen endeavor by reading tabs. It takes a lot of getting dirty, getting tired, getting beaten up, getting persecuted, getting knocked down, and getting up.

Music teaches us that being best is only an illusion that the sports world has foisted on us. There may be a most lucky or proficient at a given moment, but we can only determine where a person's life stands on a scale of worst to best upon their last dying breath, long after the strength of youth has left them. Oh, did you hear that Stephen Hawking died last week?

Anyway, there’s a story that is most likely apocryphal—but as John Steinbeck once observed: “Just because something didn't happen doesn't mean it isn't true.” It’s about guitar legend Merle Travis, considered by many to be “the best” at what he did. Seems he had made up this song on the guitar but, to make it sound like he wanted it to, there was a lick he just couldn’t master. Then, along came multi-track recording.

“Aha.”

He had them overdub the stubborn lick and sent the song out for distribution. Years later, as the story goes, he attended a recital where a 13-year old boy announced he would play this particular Merle Travis song. Travis assumed he would simplify the passage, but was astounded when the kid played through it flawlessly, without the benefit of any mechanical help.

Rule Two: There’s always someone better at what you do. Cockiness can make the gods mischievous.

Music teaches us, or should, that life is hard, complicated, confusing, and demanding. This is especially true, for example, in governance, a fact totally lost on those who call themselves “Libertarians.” Oh, that life could be as simple as simple minds would have it. Just read the tabs Ayn Rand published and all is well.

A fine musician (and better entertainer) once told me that there was a definite, but unalterable sequence to be followed before performing a musical piece before an audience.

- First, learn your instrument,

- Next, learn the song,

- Next, learn to play the song flawlessly,

- Next, learn to play it in rhythm with others, and finally

- Work at it until you can make it look easy.

Rule Three: Don’t attempt difficult or demanding things until you are ready.

And we are out of time after only three lessons. Oh well, I’ll close and to see what messes our national leaders have gotten us into today. You know, Americans are pretty well decided by now that only females should govern our country. When that finally happens, I hope that a lot of them are musicians as well.

Well now, there does happen to be
a best tractor driver, after all.