Evening Walk I
Mike, being an experienced musician, suggested jamming freestyle to House of the Rising Sun. Well, I know the chords to that song so I started strumming out the notes and Mike played lead as Joseph found the beat on his drums. After a few minutes we stopped, drank beer, and then began improvising with power chords.
I was starting to feel somewhat comfortable, but then I got it in my head to try playing the bass guitar which leaned against the wall. Mike encouraged me to do so and within a few minutes I was creating bass notes in line with Joseph's drum rhythm. My mind focused intently on the music being created, and with Mike playing lead the music began flowing with a creative ease. After an hour of bass Mike wanted me to try playing his high quality guitar, so we switched and I did alright, playing some blues riffs and improvising with other styles.
After 2 hours we stopped and I packed up and walked home. I found the experience to be inspiring and illuminating. Making music with others is not as hard as I thought it would be. I also realize I have a natural sense of rhythm - even though I can't count music in my head I have a sense of time which fits with what is being played. It is similar to how I process language because I don't know the mechanics of language, such as nouns/verbs/adverbs, but simply follow a sense of innate timing which chooses the flow of the words.
This week I have been practicing harder than ever, inspired to improve in all aspects of my play so that I can better express myself the next time I jam with a group. I surprised myself by doing better than expected at Joseph's, but I have a strong desire to play the music which I know is inside of me, and this will require a tremendous amount of work/practice before it is allowed to surface - Rock on!
