When I was in elementary school, I had the good fortune to be picked to play the violin. I say picked because, in that assembly-line fashion that comes natural to long-employed public school music teachers, I was.
I practiced bowing malformed notes on a cheap cardboard practice piece and anticipated the next time in class I could get hold of one of the “legitimate” violins in short supply. It was a passion that unfortunately would not follow me far. Eventually I moved to the cello, the trombone and then to a state of musical passivity. For the longest time now the only things I’ve played are the stereo, DVDs and video games.
But as these youth experiences are wont to do a seed of affection for the violin was planted deep in the impressionable soil of my mind. To me, the sound of a well played violin is the true sound of a soul’s mirth and sorrow. However it is not enough to simply lay a bow or a finger on the tuned strings of an excellent instrument. If it were that simple, all of us would be masters and the feeling would be lost.
It’s for that reason that I have the utmost respect for musicians who can play from their soul. Vocalists and instrumentalists who fall into that deep pit in their hearts where truth, beauty and love dance hand in hand with guilt, pain, and hate. A stew of emotions, raw and vibrant, spinning, leaping, crawling and screaming with the undiluted ferocity of their very presence. The musician is no longer a simple man. They become psychopomps for their own convictions, their own passions, and their own pain.
The rarest violinist plays as if the neck was the spine in their back, their heart humming in the chamber, their veins the strings, and their bow the gritting convictions buried somewhere in the labyrinth of their mind. To those people, lavished with recognition and playing for the undulating masses or languishing in obscurity playing for themselves, I say thank you. Thank you and never, ever, lose your center.
-B
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Beautiful sentiment. I saw you were thinking of learning again, I think you should…
Sadly, I can’t play an instrument. I wish I had that avenue of self-expression; it seems to me to be the most direct route to hearing someone’s soul. Seems unfair that it’s denied to me, but then I’ve never put the work in.
well said Ben. I hope some other musicians see this.
I agree. As a musician and being one who appreciates music, you always get that little tingling sensation when someone is playing from their soul. It’s getting fewer and farther between nowadays, especially on radio and the more conventional means of encountering music, but there are always a few out there who still play from the heart and give a little bit of their soul with every note they play.
Cool, are you going to be at the LA mini youtube gathering???
I wholly agree. There is something haunting about a talented musician who can really put their heart and soul into their music. As i cannot truly play anything, (i can pick notes out on a piano, but that’s not really much to write home about) I am truly envious and in awe of those with real talent.
I agree with all of this, the saxophone when played passionately moves me as well. Everytime I hear “Nearer, my god, to thee” played well on a violin I truly feel it in the depths of my soul. Thanks for this post boh3m3, and hopefully we will get another one before the month is out.
I agree wholeheartedly with everyone you said[i usually do.].
I have, my entire life, wanted to learn how to play the violin.
Unfortunately, my school did not have the vilion, so i was picked to play the flute. Not nearly as moving as the violin. It’s an instrument you can lose yourself in.
By the way, a little something that always cheers me up…something I discovered on the ol’ internet, and free….
http://aerotone.300l600.de/index.php?id=2,73,0,0,1,0&PHPSESSID=26da89ceb8c0a2a85a76828675c5852f
Cool instrumental album by a german musician… Check out “dipl. link”…it always cheers me up and makes me feel good.
aye, fool.
get back on the toobbbbb.
I feel the same way about the piano. I used to play it and I’ve been told I was quite talented, but I stopped, because of my laziness and the complicated situation my family was in at the time.
Every time I hear someone play their heart out on the piano I get all tingly inside. And every time someone butchers the instrument I want to smack them in the head with a sock full of bricks. :P I feel a little sad every time I sit behind a piano myself, because I can play just about four and a half songs and those are second grade level.
Music is beautiful.
Wow Ben… I almost want to go practice my trumpet right now… but I feel that the trumpet and I have parted ways momentarily…
:)
Exactly. I love Yo-Yo Ma for the feeling instilled in me listening to him play cello. I love the passion in Mariza’s voice when she is singing. Clapton’s guitar playing is still the best. A friend played in a great ska band when in high school, they cut a CD. They toured locally, got gigs, split up when it was time to go to college. He has not picked up his trumpet in 12 years. He has two children who’ve never heard him play. In fact, he says, they don’t even know he ever played an instrument.
Music is what makes me, me. I know exactly what you mean about the passion… sometimes I get REALLY into what i’m performing or writing that i’ll even get too emotional to continue. Music is just another layer of the soul and i’m so glad people ages ago figured out how to do it!
I highly suggest taking up violin again or trying something new. I tried guitar just because I was curious (originally I play piano and sing) and I just love learning new things on the guitar!
Thanks for sharing these thoughts Ben!