Looking back over five decades of collecting music recordings I am struck by the fact that, apart from a number of classical music LPs, by far the largest part of my music collection is devoted to bluegrass, old-time, blues, jazz and country music. To some people – though certainly not to dyed-in-the-wool bluegrass addicts – this interest might seem one-sided. In my days as a college student it seemed quite normal to play bluegrass music one night and to practice singing Bach or Mozart in an amateur choral society the following evening, and I still do some occasional choral singing. However, I now realise that the big attraction of bluegrass and other similar forms of music is the element of improvisation. With classical music you follow the dots in the score. In bluegrass you make it up.
Years ago I was at an inspiring mandolin workshop given by Steve Waller when someone asked him, “Do you ever make mistakes in your playing?” Steve’s reply was memorable. “Make mistakes? I make great gobs of them!” The point was that you learn to recover quickly and turn a mistake into something that fits the piece you are playing. In an interview for Mandolin World News in 1979 Johnny Gimble pointed out that if you play a bad note you are only a fret away from a good one. And I have heard of musicians who practice by deliberately making mistakes and seeing how quickly they can recover. So it’s all to play for.
Earl Scruggs was sometimes asked where he got his bluegrass banjo playing from. His reply was that in the early days of bluegrass music there was no one to copy and the musicians essentially made it up as they went along. The same must apply to all the great players who have pushed the boundaries and have created their own special sound. They have heard lots of music and have learned, probably by ear, to recreate elements of what they have heard, but have not been afraid to introduce variations of their own and to experiment with new sounds.
Bill Clifton used to tell learners that music is like a language. You have notes, or words, that you combine into musical, or verbal, statements. We all have access to notes, using our voices and musical instruments, and we can use these in a similar way to using words, to communicate our ideas. Every day we use words to express our thoughts and feelings, often without giving much thought to the process. Creating your own music gives you similar flexibility in expression. So the next time you are given the nod for a break, whether on a bluegrass standard or a new piece whose chords you have just about managed to learn, use it as an opportunity to make your own personal statement. This way the music stays alive within you and keeps you coming back for more. As we say in UK, it’s a bit good!
