Any philosophers out there?

[Flash Harry]

Bingo Ted.

And now for something completely different.....


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_WRFJwGsbY

[Geir]

That's why Zen is so cool. It doesn't ask questions......you just sit in meditation and let the ego/self fall away. Music is at its best when you get out of the way of yourself. There's a guy at our guitar society who is a brilliant player but he leaves everyone cold because his playing is just a big demonstartion of how good he is. I've seen other players who are just a channel for the music. It flows out of them and communicates something mysterious, beyond anyone playing anything....sorry, I'm addicted to rambling sometimes, especially in such good company as this. Whose round is it?

Hmmm this rises two questions for me (please don't get me wrong, I kinda agree with you and have similar experiences, but I just started wondering .. ... ) .....

* How can meditation be anything but letting your self/ego take full control, and hence a really "selfish" activity? I thought the idea was to kinda block out the world .....

* If you don't see the musician, can you really know if he/she is cold or warm, self-obsessed or "communicating"/giving? I do believe I have some music that I love that, at least after what I've heard, is performed by big egos!

[Gritter]

I think this archival footage really helps to put it all in laymens terms. It helped with my understanding.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyyL1VAs4mQ

[T.C. Elliott]

* How can meditation be anything but letting your self/ego take full control, and hence a really "selfish" activity? I thought the idea was to kinda block out the world .....

* If you don't see the musician, can you really know if he/she is cold or warm, self-obsessed or "communicating"/giving? I do believe I have some music that I love that, at least after what I've heard, is performed by big egos!

1- Meditation can take various forms and even have many differing goals. But as I understand the basic principle it is blocking out the world OF DISTRACTIONS. But it is actually opening one's mind to the surroundings. Ie, becoming one with nature. This, in my mind, can relate directly to music in two primary ways.

In songwriting it is often helpful (to me) to take a step back and let ideas kind of flow through me or open up and invite music to enter my consciousness. While I don't specifically meditate, I do relax, reduce the stress of songwriting and increase the joy of music and creation. I believe that creating art is the closest one can be to God. As God created the world so I too create piece of art. But by create I mean mold what is already there. Music is alive and our interaction with it is a relationship, imo. (I can already see I'm gonna be rambling a lot.)

In playing one can remove the world of distractions and allow the music to flow through them. It has often been said by various musicians that they play the best when they open their minds and quit thinking or concentrating on what they are playing or are gonna play and instead let the music flow through them. Stevie Ray Vaughan and Victor Wooten are two examples. Both of which are/were phenomenal musicians regardless if you like their music/styles. Both have said they play better when they 'let go.' To me that is one awesome form of meditation.

Another example of meditation for me is TaeKwonDo. I'm a black belt and often when I'm worried or stressed or have writer's block or get a headache from trying to complete a song or from my daughter playing crappy hiphop music I will go through a form, usually in slower tempo, and focus completely on that one task. It's a form of meditation. I'm blocking out the conscious aspects of the entire world except for my form. But as a result my unconscious mind is suddenly free of the chains that my conscious mind imposes and when I'm done I can return to a task more open and less frustrated than before. Whether that's songwriting or just dealing with a mouthy child, I suddenly have the right mindset to deal with and solve issues.

2- A big ego is often needed to succeed in cut throat worlds. Such as pool playing. Some of the best billiard players in the world are jerks. It even holds true at the local level (at least here.) Now there are lots of exceptions, but I have noticed that many of the great artists or athletes have a big ego which is actually an asset in succeeding. To me a big ego is very similar to have huge confidence with the added aspect of the negative competitiveness. You can be hugely confident and competitive without being a jerk. BUT, in the cutthroat world of music or sports or billiards it is helpful to have the pit bull determination that comes with knowing that you are the best and that others are merely distracting you, small obstacles to over come, from your success. Ultimately I find this attitude repulsive, but I do see how it is invaluable to a person seeking success. In my opinion those people will never truly be great/happy until they transcend the ego and make it all about the music or the sport or the performance.

And the second part of my response to part 2 is basically this. If you take the idea that music can flow through you and that you must lose your conscious mind in order to have the proper mindset to let music flow or even take control then you can see how someone with a big ego, a jerk even, could let go and no longer let that ego be the primary force in making music as long as they are playing. A jerk outside the venue might be the perfect vessel for the music on the stage.

Unfortunately what I've found is that if a musician has a big ego it often shows up on stage as well. Usually by over playing, dominating the music, not giving it space to grow and breathe. Or by not being considerate of other players and giving them their fair share of support and space. Or both. A technically brilliant player might be awesome, but if they constantly run over their fellow musicians they may find that they suddenly have no supporting cast and the music suffers for it. Compare it to the local shredder vs the old blues guy. The local shredder is trying to impress you with his technique, which can be astounding. The old blues guy/gal is trying to get the emotion across. Both can be astounding, but one never lets technique get in the way of the music. The other does so often.

And to muddy it further I'll add this. I just read in a blog somewhere about performing on stage. They made the point that there are certain things you should do to make the performance good. One is practice. You don't expect to John Mayer to make a mistake so your audience shouldn't hear it from you. Two is to keep stage chatter to a minimum. If you don't have something to say then don't say anything. If you do then say it and be done. And finally, and most important to our conversation, is to compete. Great artists often want to be the best. If two acts go on stage the one who wants to have the best performance will often perform better. The great artists compete. Sometimes this is less in playing and more in the show, how they emote the music or connect with the audience. One big tool to do this is to let the music flow naturally...

[Blooby]

I'd just like to take this opportunity to say I'm not wearing any underwear.

[Flash Harry]

I'd just like to take this opportunity to say I'm not wearing any underwear.

Me neither.

[Oldrottenhead]

how not to use a whip in an existential fashion


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=On6bB3Jgups

[Geir]

Pigfarmer Jr, I hear ya ! ... If someone else had posted what I posted I would probably responded in a similar fashion to what you've done I just wanted to start a little rambling 

btw ... underwear is over-rated

[T.C. Elliott]

Was I over the top? 

[Geir]

Was I over the top? 

Not at all !!!

I loved your "rambling" ....