Re: Go Deeper, Not Wider
Originally Posted by
Zach Wilson
The multi-instrumentalist in me doesn't exactly agree... because l love finding new sounds and leaning new instruments.
But being content with what you got and growing in what you do... that is definitely something I agree with.
I don't know that the writer is necessarily addressing you, Zach. I gather from your posts that you're still raising young children. I think, to some degree at least, he's addressing older people.
Advice is cheap, and I don't think any piece of advice is good for everyone. For instance, here's some great advice for someone: keep a steady but boring job that pays well, and this will allow you to have security and lots of money to do enjoyable things in your spare time. However, I have a low boredom threshold and like creative pursuits, and would probably have serious depression and perhaps heart trouble if I'd followed that path, which I could have done with the job I had when I was nineteen. Personally, I think that if people are playing or enjoying their instruments, that's great. Even if you get joy from a collection -- though I don't really understand that -- that's fine. However, many older folks (this comes up on Mandolin Cafe discussions) have been confronted by dilettante peers, who turn up for musical (or other) activities, with no sense of commitment. Many can't even show up once a week for six weeks, let alone work on tunes at home. Meanwhile they may be going to a half dozen other groups with the same lack of dedication, which takes away from the experience of themselves and others. I have many interests, but can only be good at a small number, and will commit to those. Furthermore, many of us think, "There's a glockenspiel for sale! I've always wanted to play the glockenspiel, since I saw my first marching band; I have to have one." Meanwhile, we have instruments at home that we're still hoping to master. (I never was tempted to take up glockenspiel -- I just like the name.)
To others who responded, the writer isn't saying, get rid of your stuff. He's saying, use what you have, and don't be in a rush to buy more. As he tells us, "Ever-branching possibilities make it harder for us to explore any given one deeply, because there’s always more 'newness' to turn to when the old new thing has reached a difficult or boring part."
Robert Johnson's mother, describing blues musicians:
"I never did have no trouble with him until he got big enough to be round with bigger boys and off from home. Then he used to follow all these harp blowers, mandoleen (sic) and guitar players."
Lomax, Alan, The Land where The Blues Began, NY: Pantheon, 1993, p.14.
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