welcome to the groove

Sometimes a piece of music is more than a piece of music. But you have to know how to listen to it to hear what it is. That should be no surprise - the same thing is true of the spoken word. You've got to listen to hear it. Crazy thing is, even the speaker can say it without hearing it. Sometimes words are just so wonderful that they get in the way of what they mean. Some folks can coin a phrase so wonderfully that we don't even notice that they aren't saying anything.
With music, this is largely what we've come to expect. Does anybody really expect music to say anything? Sometimes though, you happen upon a piece of music that says exactly what you've been trying to say, and so, immediately understand it. It stands out from the chatter. You can hear it so well that it doesn't really matter if no one else ever understands what you're saying with it. But that is not what happens. People with ears will hear it and comprehend.
These past two days, I've spoken with lots of people without saying a word, and I feel like many of them heard.
On Thursday night, four of my guitar students played on a general student recital. Afterward, one of them came up to me and said, "do you remember how you told me about assigning each piece you play as a prayer for a specific person?' "Of course," I said. "Well the piece I played tonight was my prayer for you."
It's one thing to get past the notes to the guitar, and another to get past the guitar to the music. It's still more elusive to get past the music. To help someone else to make these steps is a deeply satisfying thing.
Music, sweet music, such a funky thing – the closer you get, the deeper it means. (doug pinnick)