In addition to music, I have always enjoyed fine arts, especially paintings. I was born with a knack for drawing, but not painting. I could express myself very easily with line, but color always defeated me. Like Mozart’s contemporary, Salieri, I have the gift of appreciation for painting, but not the gift to create a compelling painting.
It occurs to me that this is the situation for those people I meet at festivals and concerts who are music lovers, but not musicians. I’m so accustomed to nearly everyone being a musician at festivals, I’m always surprised when someone says “Oh, I don’t play – I just love the music.” I used to wonder why these people weren’t saddened or even bitter, as Salieri was. But then I realized it was just like me and paintings.
I think everyone has some outlet for expressing themselves artistically or creatively. And I think sometimes people don’t even know they’re expressing themselves. Have you ever come home from shopping, and began placing the fruit in a bowl, and found yourself taking a little extra time to make the bowl of fruit look aesthetically pleasing? So something as mundane as putting away the groceries can be an artistic endeavor. Of course, sometimes, putting the groceries away is just putting the groceries away.
The same applied to music. It is intrinsically an artistic act, but if you don’t make an effort to express yourself, you’re just making pleasing noises. It can be challenge sometimes, in bands that rehearse a lot and try to get things just right, to avoid reducing a high art to just simple mechanics. As you polish the music to make the best, and most consistent show possible, you can buff the soul right out of it.
Those whose role in the ensemble includes lead breaks get a regular chance to recharge their creative batteries, but what about those of us who are playing rhythm instruments? If we do our job perfectly, does that necessarily mean we deliver mechanical precision, at the expense of the art? Absolutely not!
When 4 or 5 different instruments play at the same time to create an ensemble sound, there is a constant interplay among the parts. Each part has to have its own space, and it’s actually more difficult to maintain that space with the basic rhythm instruments, because they’re being heard fairly constantly. The lead instruments can dive in and back off as the arrangement requires, but the guitar and bass need to adjust constantly to make sure they’re not competing for the listener’s ear with the other parts of the sound. There’s no one right way to do this, and accomplishing it is a personal expression.
Of course, the bass and guitar can ignore what the other instruments are doing and it’ll still sound like bluegrass, but it won’t be exquisite. You can throw you fruit in a bowl any which way, too – but it’ll never inspire a still–life painting.
Of course, there’s a real easy way for us bluegrass musicians to make sure we’re properly expressing ourselves , and that’s what happens every time we jam, right? I can’t WAIT until the fall campout. I’m gonna express like crazy! See you there!
