Music is Alive

Dani describes a particular practice session where she was able to transform from stressed to relaxed using Victor Wooten's wisdom.

Music is Alive

I love Victor Wooten’s concepts of how Music is alive. How it breathes.

I stood to practice my Viggy strum yesterday. My ukulele felt clanky in my hands and I couldn’t keep up with the beat I’d set on the metronome. My arms and shoulders had a Frankenstein stiffness and my frustration was shouting, “I don’t have time for this! Why won’t my ukulele just submit?!”!”

Then I suddenly became aware of myself. I suddenly remembered. I said out loud, “I am here to commune with my friend, Music.”

The next strum downward was done with intention, each finger articulated through each string, the way they do on Harvest Moon. I realized I had been stomping through aggressively, with my ego at the helm of this destructive and punctual machine. No wonder I was crashing so hard against the waves of the rhythm. I needed to let the waves carry me. And I had forgotten to inspire the strings to sing.

The moment I became aware of myself and adjusted my fingers is when I was suddenly cognizant of my right shoulder mechanism rolling forward, and the tense muscles in my jaw & chest. I knew instantly that I was coming from a place of demanding myself to do it right, to be the best, to capitalize on my practice time. This was a familiar feeling.

I took a deep breath.

I drew the crown of my head up to the sky. Shoulders up, back, and down comfortably. I clenched the diamond in my belly button ever so slight, which helped to raise my chest and relax my shoulders and neck muscles. I dropped my elbows to the earth to release the shoulders even more.

I stopped pacing and I attuned to Music. All of my movements forward were a communion with my dear friend. Where my soul could speak those deep, unknown words and Music can hold my heart like a mother holding a sleeping baby. That absolute comfort. There I can breathe as Music breathes.

I hope I don’t forget and let my militant practice agenda take over again. My soul feels colicky and my heart is in need of some deep understanding these days.

*A few notes tinkle in the distance.*

Oh, Hi Music! I’ll be right there!

I gotta go. I’m meeting a friend.

Dani Joy