Holiday

So I've been out of town and out of touch, still am, really. Not playing, obviously, and thinking about music not much at all. I did start reading The Perfect Wrong Note, a book my wife got in exchange for a book by Victor Wooten. It actually speaks quite well to the issues I had and have, and talks about the problems with classical training, particularly for the educated, "book-smart", overachiever type. Like me. So far, though, I'm not sure my approach bears much relation to his ideas. Breaking things down, trying to analyze intellectually everything, figuring that I can add some kind of life or musicianship later, after the notes are down... Not possible, says he. Vitality and life from day one, holistic, right-brained, accepting and enjoying, like the three-year old learner. Victor Wooten's ideas are not so different. And there have been, of course, a long stream of similar advice, of which the first I read was The Inner Game of Tennis. How useful this will be to the bassoon operator remains to be seen.