Prepare thyself, i am about to unleash another mini-series, this one on the subject of music. My spleen will be vented and bile will spew forth. This subject is one which has a defining role in my identity, and certainly in my identity as a Christian.
I've considered blogging on this in the past but haven't got round to it. The catalyst this time was taking part in an interview for another student who's doing her dissertation on the spirituality of popular music (Hi Ingrid). Doing the interview was brilliant, and the only way we could fit it into the day was if we dodged chapel - also brilliant!
To start i need to play my hand open, this will be at the root of most of what i say. My name is andy and i'm a frustrated musician. I'm frustrated because i can't play a thing and i can't sing a note. All the while, my appreciation of music knows no bounds, music is one of the best and most powerful and fascinating things in all of God's creation. I just can't do any of it.
In this interview the first question was 'What sorts of popular music do you like?' and masses (a mass of?) joy ensued when just considering answers. Simply naming genres, sub-genres, bands, singer songwriters and producers was like being bashed in the mind with great audio flashes that carried with them huge emotional resonnances and points of spiritual connectedness.
blur, aimee mann, bob marley, radiohead, moby, hard-fi, van morrison, arrested development, jack johnson, the neptunes, bill withers, brand new heavies, kanye west, portishead, jamiroquai, nina simone....
Give it a go, who does that for you? Consider the joy a gift from me.
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2 comments:
Have you read Moab Is My Washpot?
Musical frustration? Tell me about it. After about 7 years trying to learn to play the sax, the frustration gets worse and worse. I am starting to think that loving music and playing badly is more painful than not being able to play at all.
I can get notes out of the thing top to bottom, I can sight read simple tunes and every now and then when I'm practising I reckon it even sounds good. But stick me in front of anyone else, and I mean anyone and everything goes to pot. Last week I played at church or at least I started playing. First couple of songs were OK ish but it wasn't sounding good and by the time we got to the end of the evening I'd tensed up and screwed up so much that I effectively packed up. Just stood at the front with the horn round my neck trying not to sing too loud and feeling a complete berk. Even in front of my music teacher - really nice guy - I just freeze, the tone goes all to pot and even the simplest piece of reading looks impossible. I'll not tell you about the time I took the tenor into a school assembly and skinned the Pink Panther alive.
What's puzzling is I'm not usually the nervous type and when I do feel nerves in other contexts they usually spur me on to "perform" better. But not with music. It cld be that I'm just not meant to get anywhere near a semi-quaver and God's telling me to stop being so vain, to stop being so greedy, to stop fooling myself, just to stop for the love of Coltrane! Or it cld be that I jut want it so badly that gets in the way. Ouch! ouch! ouch! If it gets any worse I just might be tempted to go all Paganini and sell my soul to the Devil.
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