The Mystery of Music

Music is an audible medium. But communication between great musicians is without words. I cannot explain the spiritual nature of making music. Where does it come from? How do we hear harmony? Why is music almost like food in many, if not all, cultures. Some of these questions may be answered by someone smarter than the likes of me.

I had a great time last night playing with some fantastic Nashville pickers. There's something easy about those guys...not regarding their playing abilities (they are musical monsters!) but their easy-going, light-hearted approach to what they do. The amazing thing about Nashville pickers is that they work off of a musical short-hand called the number system. I won't go into details about the technical side of the Nashville Number System here but generally it was developed by a studio singer in the middle of the last century to indicate when the band is to change chords. The numbers represent the steps in a chord progression, allowing the band to change keys quickly if the singer needs to do so in the recording session. The beauty of a session musician is that they know how to fill in the flesh on the musical skeleton that the number system suggests.

The mystery of music is especially puzzling to me because I can't explain where it comes from in myself. All I know is that I have been singing harmonies to records since I was a small child. My mother was a by-ear piano player and her father and his father were musician/ singers. It must run in families. Playing guitar is not a technical thing for me. There is somehow a direct connection between my soul and my fingers. I hear a melody in my heart and, with the help of a good, in-tune guitar and tube amp (pedals, too!) I can turn a thought into something other people can experience.

I found an interesting interview in the American Chronicle from May 9, 2008 where veteran guitarist, Steve Gibson (he was picking last night along with drum legend Eddie Bayers on keys...say what?), illustrates the craft of a Nashville studio picker:

"Take the rhythm section we use for George Strait records: Eddie Bayers, Stuart Duncan, Glenn Worf, Paul Franklin, Brent Mason, Mac McAnally, Steve Nathan, Matt Rollings and myself. We all know each other so well that when some little spark flies through the room, we instinctively know what to do. This may sound mystical, but it's really true. Something flies off of someone's hands and somebody else grabs it - instantly, mind you, without even thinking - and adds the next set of molecules to it and passes it on. There's nothing in the world that feels as gratifying."

As a musician, this is what's so exciting. Our efforts are only complete when we can see that you, the audience, are enjoying what we are creating.