Two special events today in the northern hemisphere, one: Father's Day, and two: Summer Soltice, the longest daylight and optimal opportunity to pick on the porch. These two really should go hand in hand. The capacity to enjoy life, to reflect on what is truly important, family, recreation, and the opportunity to aesthetically express ourselves is something not to be taken for granted.

We came across an interesting story a year ago by Reader's Digest contributor, David Hochman, who chronicles his own journey into fretted self-awareness, learning to play an instrument (a mandolin) as an adult, 30 years after abandoning piano lessons. An excerpt:

"Even more remarkable was how grounding it was to play. Somehow the usual anxieties of life -- money, status, the possibility of a meteorite landing on my head -- didn't matter when every atom of my humanity was focused on mastering the four-fingered D chord. Experts in positive psychology call it flow, the rosy feeling of losing oneself in a challenging activity. One night, while working out the melody of "Over the Rainbow," I was startled to see I'd been picking and grinning nonstop for four hours"

This might resonate well with your own experience in fretboard mastery, and worth a reread even if you've already seen it.

Enjoy the rest of the article: The Mandolin Player

Posted by Ted at June 21, 2009 6:39 AM