Music as passport to the world

When I was a teenager learning to play the fiddle, it was all about the tunes. Tunes were the passport into the white-hot center of the late-night sessions, and that’s where I wanted to be. Soon, the tunes revealed themselves as different languages and dialects. I realized that I could learn a few tunes in each language and participate in any session, or I could choose one style, learn the language, and work my way into the middle of that bonfire.

Irish music chose me in a great flash of inspiration, but to play it took years of focus, learning to hear and execute tiny details of style and inflection—not to mention the (endless) task of learning several hundred drop-dead common tunes. Every Sunday night, I’d go to the session up the street, listen, and ask the names of three tunes that caught my ear as they flew by, then find them somewhere the next week. Chances were good that at least one of my new tunes would go by the following Sunday, and I lived for the occasional subtle wink of one of the better musicians who noticed that I’d made some progress. But all that wasn’t enough. The transformation from “typical Yank” to traditional musician required identifying the components of my American accent and learning to not do them, then doing things a different way.

The exercise was social as well as musical.

The payoff was worth it.

Fluency in a musical language earned me a passport into a whole different culture not accessible to the “typical Yank.” Whether the village is in Chicago, County Clare, or West Cork, I’ve been welcomed wherever I travel. Even if they’ve never seen you before, it soon becomes clear to the musicians that you’ve served your apprenticeship somewhere. And you’ll recognize the subtle cue that you’re welcome to join. “There are tourists and there are visitors,” a young flute player explained one summer in Ireland on the way to a session. “You’re a visitor.”

The lessons learned from the serious study of music—patience, persistence, attention to detail—have served me well in every context. It turns out that the old longing to be in the center of the session was all about connecting with people, who, of course, are the real fascination.

So, I’d love to hear about your journey through music and what you’re learning along the way. Whatever your musical language, feel free to join the conversation over at the Fiddle Group, the blog spot, or anywhere else in our Strings community that feels right to you.

It’s all about making connections.