Two months ago I surprised myself. No, I wasn?t rapidly switching the bathroom light on and off while making funny faces in the mirror (although if you have kids, it?s great entertainment). I found myself contemplating taking lessons. After zeroing in on ?my sound?, (can you have just one?), the music I was used to playing wasn?t living up to the sound I was getting from my new Alembic. To do the sound justice I needed to expand my repertoire, ergo my skill level. Okay, junior high clarinet was a long time past. And I could be going about it backwards, then again, maybe not. Tab was boring and not always correct and playing with CD?s wasn?t doing the job either. I was in a musical rut and had some time. So, I signed up.
In a nutshell, it?s freaking great. Suddenly the things I?ve been doing because they sounded good have names and theory behind it. Now those bits are sounding better and there?s a reason for it. You also discover some of those nifty little riffs you?ve been writing have been done before, maybe even a century or so ago by someone who knows a helluva lot more than you ever will.
Don?t know how this will all play out, but I feel if you?re not getting better at what you like, why bother doing it at all.
Mike
