Part of a Small Something

Last night Sean, and old friend of mine, and as such the story of how Sean and I are friends being too long to share here and now, got together and played some music together. Sean’s a bassist and has a long, storied existence as a musician. Compared to him, I’m a mere greenie, wet behind the ears when holding an instrument… especially around other musicians.

At first, we were fairly dissonant, beginning with our attempts to tune to each others’ instruments, continuing on into the first few minutes of our harshly un-syncopated picking. However, there was something amazing that happened inside of me when we hit that first groove. It was as though the experience I’d been imagining all these years, of what it’s like to make music with someone, had arrived like a steamtrain. Right on time, we fell into an ultra-simple progression… F, to G, to A.

Over and over, Sean patiently played the same thumping, walking bassline as I tried to acclimate to his tone and rhythm.

Once it hit, it was obvious.

I immediately relaxed (those first-time playing jitters) and found myself thinking ahead to the next chord change, to see what I could throw in to mix things up. I’d experiment a little, noodling on one key, as he played through the other changes. We pulled off a few brilliant but fleeting moments of 12-bar blues gems. For (what seemed to me like) 15 minutes, we just jammed. No lyrics, no real melody outside of my soloing, no constraints on when the bridge was coming or when the song would end. It didn’t. We just kept playing, and playing, and in those moments I felt like I’d been introduced to a special communication between human beings — that of being a part of a small something that can be appreciated in the moment, with the nodding of one’s head or the tapping of one’s feet.

I believe Sean when he says that we should get together again sometime soon and play again. It’s grown-up sandbox time, and we all need to creatively unwind periodically. I can’t wait to load up my gear again and make MUSIC with my friends. It’s reputed that MT plays some mean keys… it would be excellent to have a trio next time.