With that comment, he got into the car and closed the door. Pointing out the window, he offered final instructions.
“Don’t forget to put out the fire, the one on the ground and the one in your head.”
I looked back at the grass. It was ablaze from the coal.
"That will be the easy one to put out,” I thought out loud. I heard him chuckle from inside the car.
As I danced around stomping out the flames, I thought about what he’d told me. I didn’t know why, but it sounded as if the teacher was giving his student a warning.
But a warning of what?
MEASURE FIVE
Emotion/Feel
A child playing air-guitar
plays no wrong notes.
The sweet smell of burnt cedar filled the car. The aroma, like incense, calmed my nerves and freed my mind, leaving it receptive to the teaching taking place in this portable meditation room made of wheels and steel. I do some of my best thinking while driving. Though we hadn’t said a word since the car started moving, I was still absorbing all that he’d previously talked about. Since we had about twenty miles left to go, I was ready for more. Feeling in the mood, I asked again about the elements of music.
“We have decided on ten that we will explore,” Michael replied, “and we have looked at three of them already. Let’s review them, shall we? We have explored all twelve notes. You shouldn’t be afraid of them anymore. Through bluegrass Music and tracking, you were able to find the worlds that live inside each note. This could be put into the category called articulation. From making fire, we touched on the topic of technique. What element of Music would you like to look at next?”
I had an idea already. “On top of the mound you talked about feeling beauty. We said that feel would be one of our elements, and I relate feeling to emotion. How would emotion fit into our list? Can you talk about that?”
“Emotion is a powerful force,” Michael stated. “E, meaning ‘energy,’ and motion, meaning ‘activity.’ So, emotion can be looked at as ‘energy in motion’ or ‘active energy.’ If you play with the vowels, hidden meanings can be brought out of many words. Looked at another way, motion or mu-tone, means ‘the mother of all vibration.’ Now you can see the power in this word. Emotion is a key element in Music and in Life.”
Michael was again speaking in strange terms. I knew that he wouldn’t leave me behind for long, so I listened, waiting for him to say something I could understand.
“Emotion, properly directed, can cause anything to happen. A mediocre musician can win over an audience by sheer emotion alone. Remember, any one of the ten elements, raised to a very high level, can be used in a way that overshadows the fact that the musician is lacking in skill of the other nine.
“A child playing air-guitar knows no technique or Music theory and probably doesn’t even own a real guitar, yet plays no wrong notes. The sheer enjoyment he exudes overshadows any of his shortcomings. This is emotion in action.
“Blues musicians display a similar quality,” Michael continued. "They are rarely the best technical players; they are usually self-taught and may only know a few chords, but they have a tremendous amount of soul. Walk into any real blues bar and you instantly feel their emotion. That is what comes across through their Music first. The audience feels the ‘realness’ of what the musician is putting out.
“Blind musicians are the same. Have you ever noticed that all blind musicians play with a remarkable amount of feel—not some of them, all of them? Also, why is it that when a blind musician becomes popular, he stays that way? Think about it.” He closed his eyes, rocking his body back and forth in his seat before continuing. “A famous blind musician will be someone that your parents and your children listen to. Why? I’ll tell you. It is because they fill their Music with tremendous amounts of true emotion, and that is what they get across to their listeners.”
I’d never thought about that, but I knew what he’d said about blind musicians was true. Whenever I want to think or feel deeply about something, I will often close my eyes. Sometimes, I’ll close my eyes to hear better. Food even tastes different with my eyes closed. Using this technique has also allowed me to raise the sensitivity in my hands while feeling for my car keys at the bottom of my bag. I realized that closing my eyes was a tool I frequently used, although unconsciously.
I thought about all the blind musicians I’d ever played with. Michael was right; every one of them played with an incredible amount of feel. None of them were flashy players. Even my blind classmate from high school had played piano with a natural feel. Everyone used to love hearing him play. And now that I thought about it, every blind musician I knew could also sing. I wondered if there was a correlation.
Finally, Michael was making sense. I wanted to close my eyes at that moment so that I could hear him better, but since I was driving, I thought better of it. I just kept my eyes and mind open but my mouth shut while Michael continued talking.
“Now, blues musicians are usually singing about all the negative things that have happened to them. Most listeners can relate to their stories, and because of that, the listener also gets emotional. The listener’s emotions get caught up in the emotions of the performer causing the two to mix; thus you get what I call blending emotions.
“Blending emotions is what happens when two people fall in love. It is also what a psychic can use to read your thoughts or what a politician often uses to impose his will upon the public. Two or more people blending their positive emotions can cause miraculous things to happen. The opposite is also true. Two or more people blending negative emotions can cause catastrophes from illness to world wars, from crucifix-ions to shopping malls.” Michael kept a straight face, but I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Emotion uncontrolled can cause a person to spiral out of control. The cause of this chaotic spiral is often difficult to recognize until it is too late. Most times this lack of control will surface in a musician’s Life before it shows up in his Music. Do you know of any musicians who fit into this category?”
“Of course I do.” I could think of at least ten musicians who fit the description right off the bat, some of them professionals and some of them personal friends. They were all incredibly gifted players. Many of the famous ones have even changed the way we think about music. But they all seemed to lose control for some reason. You could hear the struggle in some of the musicians’ music, but others’ music showed no signs. Was it a chemical imbalance, an inherited mental trait, or the result of a drug addiction? Or was it like Michael said? Had they merely lost control of their emotions?
Michael continued, “A politician is not allowed to get too emotional in public, so what he does is drop subtle hints that, over time, cause the public to get emotional. Once the same emotions are generated by enough people, the politician can use it to steer the public in his desired direction. Fear is an emotion that is often used in this way. A smart politician knows that if he can create fear in enough people, those people will give up what they truly want in order to give the politician what he says they need.
"The same is often true with preachers, but they usually take the opposite approach and use a slightly different technique. In order to be considered a good preacher, one must show a lot of emotion. It does not matter whether the emotion is genuine or not; it is the amount that matters. He will show so much emotion when he preaches that his congregation gets caught up in it. At some point they’re so caught up that they stop paying attention to what the preacher is preaching. That allows some preachers to say nothing at all and still get an ‘amen.’
“Have you ever noticed that the church is often the most expensive building in the neighborhood? Why is that? Many people read the Bible. If the preacher is preaching what is already in the Bible, you already know what he is going to say. What makes you want to give him your money? ‘Oh, I am giving it to God,’ they’ll say. Well, what is God going to buy? ‘No, I mean, I’m giving it to the church, paying my tithe.’ If God is every
where, shouldn’t you be able to pay your tithe everywhere? So, I ask, what is it that causes you to give the church your money? I tell you, whether it is love, fear, or something in between, it is emotion!”
What he said touched a nerve. It resurfaced an old memory of a time when I was singled out in church by the local pastor for not playing his version of gospel music. He made a big deal in front of the whole congregation. I kept quiet. He had piled on so much emotion that I was shocked that he was talking about me. Whose fault is it that you can’t hear the gospel in my music or recognize the gospel in my talent? I remember thinking. Where does my talent come from? Where does all talent come from? I knew the answers back then even though the pastor acted as if he didn’t. Many of the church members were friends of mine, but none of them came to my defense.
I sat in church feeling a mix of shame, humility, and betrayal, but for some reason, even though I was very young, I also felt a sense of self-assuredness. I didn’t allow the pastor’s words to bring me too far down. For him to single me out because of my music let me know that what I was doing was powerful. My mom and dad always told me that church was inside me, not inside a building. I felt good about myself for knowing what I knew. Obviously, I never went back to that church.
I felt more ‘in church’ spending time with Michael. He’d been talking all along about the power of music. My memory of the pastor connected me to these statements. I wished that church officials could get a dose of Michael’s teachings. Public officials could also benefit from spending a day with him. I imagined Michael running for public office. I could see him standing in front of a large crowd delivering his speech: “Vote for me, or not, and I will promise you nothing!”
As if he was following along with the story in my mind, Michael allowed my memories to fade before he continued where he’d left off.
“Many people distrust politicians because of their lack of emotion. Many preachers, on the other hand, pile on so much emotion that it causes some people to doubt their authenticity. This causes more distrust. And more times than not, people are correct in both cases.
“Now, listen to what I am about to tell you: Musicians do not have to be believed in. We do not have to be trusted. Our Music speaks for itself without the listener having to know anything about us. Music touches people’s emotions in a way that nothing else can. When people find a musician they like, they are usually fans for Life. If they like the musician and his Music, they will open up their hearts to whatever that musician has to say. It matters not what country the musician or the fan comes from. Music is a language that all understand. It goes beyond and breaks down barriers. This makes the musician very powerful, and with power comes responsibility.”
The thought of becoming more powerful through music was interesting, but when I actually thought about it, I didn’t feel that powerful at all. I couldn’t even pay my rent. I was ready to make a comment, but Michael wasn’t finished.
“We create and release powerful emotions within ourselves and others through a realm called entertainment. The word ‘entertainment’ can imply that one has ‘entered into attainment’ or ‘atonement’ which means ‘at-one-ment.’ You could also call it in-tune-ment. Whatever you call it, just know that it represents a high level. So when you partake as a spectator, you may be watching someone who has attained this level. But you are not only watching; the artist is allowing you to join him at this level. If you join him, it allows both you and the artist to reach even higher levels. As a spectator, you are actually able to push the artist to these higher levels. A gifted artist will carry you with him.”
"That sounds cool,” I said.
“It can be an extraordinary experience, but you must be careful with whom you blend. An artist who has attained high levels of negativity and puts out those emotions can cause large numbers of people who blend with him to unwittingly create and spread incredible amounts of negative energy. The only time you may want to blend with those types is when you have enough positive energy to dilute his negative energy. You must have a great deal of control over yourself before attempting something like this. Entertainment of this type may still be enjoyable, but you must know who you are dealing with when it comes to blending.
"The cool thing about entertainment is that it is a choice. It is not like politics, where we are un-American if we do not take part, or like ‘good ole’ religion, where for thousands of years we’ve been told what will happen to us if we don’t get some. Music is still a choice, free and unencumbered. This is beautiful to some and frightening to others.”
It was hard to understand why musical freedom would be frightening to anyone, but I knew that what he said was true. It was this very freedom that caused that pastor to single me out in church. Many times this freedom is threatened and challenged by the political system that makes up the music business. Radio used to be driven by the public. Now it’s driven by business. It seems that artists have to ‘water down’ their music in order to be successful. That causes many great musicians to sacrifice their freedom in order to get their music on the radio. Was it that way in the past? I wondered if fear had caused the change. How and why would anyone fear music?
Once again, as if reading my thoughts, Michael spoke. “Politicians know how powerful musicians and their Music can be. That is why, even to this day, politicians keep secret files on certain musicians. Jim Morrison, Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, and many others were all in the government’s files. They may even have a file on you one day.” Michael winked and smiled.
“A file on me? I hope not. Why on earth would they do that?” I couldn’t imagine such a thing.
“In 1968,” Michael continued, “in order to prevent a riot, President Johnson called upon James Brown, a musician, to address the public after Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. Mr. Brown, speaking to the masses, was able to do what no politician could; he calmed them. After that, James Brown stated that he was perceived by the government as the most dangerous man in the world. Because he did what he was asked to do, he was under close surveillance for a long time. The government felt that if he could easily stop a riot, he must easily be able to start one. Think about that. James Brown, an entertainer, was able to alter thousands of people’s emotions. How did he do it? It is fascinating to think about.”
That made me think about seeing James Brown in concert as a child. It was one of the most amazing concerts I’ve ever attended. He became my favorite performer. Holding the audience in the palm of his hand, he kept them in a frenzy. It was like being in church. I never imagined his ability could be perceived as dangerous, but now I was starting to understand.
“Church officials also know the power of Music,” Michael said. “Many of them try to have the largest and best choir and band that they can. Why? Because they know that the church with the best choir has the biggest congregation. Some people pick their churches based on the quality or quantity of the Music and attend mainly for these reasons.
“Sports figures are similar to musicians. They also have a universal power to reach and affect millions. Did you know that around the year 1972 two warring countries in Africa actually called a truce for a day so that both sides could watch the soccer great Péle play a game? Think about it,” he said, pointing a finger to his head. “An athlete stopped a war for a day. Most politicians can’t even do that. Now that,” he pointed his finger in my direction, “that is power.
"The only difference with sports is that competition is built in. That can cause disunity between athletes and their fans. Just as in politics, it can pit one person against another, based solely on which team each supports. Although a great athlete can cause a person to rise above this disunity, there is no built-in negative quality like that in Music.”
“How can you say that?” I asked. “Music companies are always competing with each other, trying to make more money. They even fight for air time, trying to make their artists more popular than the other guys’. What about that?”
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br /> “You are talking about business, not Music,” he replied. “When we attend a Music concert, we do not go in order to compete. When we put on a recording, we are not trying to win. Music is more significant than that.”
Once again, he was right, and I nodded in acknowledgment.
“Imagine putting this kind of power to constructive use,” he continued. “Musicians and athletes have the ability to do that. That is why it is important for the athlete to rise above the need to win. Then all fans will be on his side. You see, the competition factor is virtually nonexistent in the world of the Music fan, which allows him to express and blend his emotions without fear of ridicule or shame. Anyone who can get another person to express himself freely is powerful because he allows all involved to recognize their collective and individual power. Again, this is beautiful to some and frightening to others.” He smiled and spread his hands. “Welcome to the world of the musician.”
The Music Lesson Page 10
