Perspective: virtual campfire karaoke coordinator writes about music appreciation

I’m averaging one child prodigy a year in terms of discovering musical talent (well at least since The Covid hit). Last year it was my roommate’s three year old. He visits me occasionally while I work to give my cat treats so that we can train her to be less of bitch. Its not working but he is persistent and patient. Well, one day while waiting for the kitten to come out from under the bed he asked “What’s that?” I turned to look in the direction of his gaze and saw my ukulele. Now, this is a cute leading question kids will ask to get to… “can I play with it?” Of course I obliged, preparing my eardrums to be assaulted for the duration of his interest but at least I wouldn’t have to turn around every second to address the next item he was curious about.

To my surprise, the kid was a natural. Somehow words of an old soul danced upon the strings he strummed in a serenade to my elusive Kizzy. I did actually have to turn from my computer and look to be sure I was hearing this correctly. How on Earth has a three year old constructed these verses when he normally just gets really excited and progressively louder and louder in conversation? Not with this delicate instrument and he even used his most gentlest little voice. He gracefully played some notes and chose corresponding sounds from his own repertoire he’d been building up through language acquisition. I’ll be honest with you, it made me want to just hand the kid the ukulele every time he tries to talk to me so I can say “Will you sing it instead?”

This morning I encountered another kid with the ability to pick up an instrument and instantly start singing while playing. Just the instrument alone is difficult to produce decent noises with. So imagine singing while playing anything; its kind of like playing two instruments at once. As far as I can tell from my experience, it is a meditation. It’s best to keep your mind open and consistently monitor yourself in real time to be sure you are prepared for the notes that are to come but you also have stay mindful of the ones you are producing at the present moment.

These children weren’t just singing and playing the instruments. They both experimented with words. The girl I witnessed today literally brought me to tears with her lyrics that must have been inspired by a Disney movie. The way she arranged them was extremely profound. So you’re damn right I sobbed listening to this tiny voice tremble as she belted out the words “you can fly away” while a hypnotizing melody oscillated from the open top-strings.

For me music allows the observer brain to take complete control of the thinking brain and its seems like a different realm, I guess. Admittedly, a lot of the things I am finding out about music stem from coordinating a karaoke group and recognizing the value of music and comedy in culture and political movements. I am not at all classically trained unless you count the fact that we did have music class in elementary school. I won’t pretend I remember too much but I remember Mrs. Lightner (I am now so unsure that is her actual name but we are gonna go with it). She taught the class meditation by instructing us to focus on a single instrument in a song. For the duration of the number I chose the bass line and followed it, as I follow my breath now during a typical meditation session.

Music allows us to be vulnerable as we surrender our mind to the moment. Through lyrics we express feelings and settings; through our inflections we create emphasis where it aids in presenting a full experience for the performer and the audience, and even better if they are able to be in the same room. It’s as though everyone is fully in observation mode, no longer tangling with mental task-lists.

I do wonder if those kids were tapping into a stream of consciousness. I’d like to think kids have the capacity to do this much more easily because their minds are not cluttered by power bills, keeping a job, and raising a family. As I mentioned in my essay on religion, I do think any activity that can allow your mind to rest in the moment is going to do wonders for the spirit. It is a divine experience. Whether or not you believe in a god or a higher power, hell, it may even be placebo effect; but it works. So drink from that fountain and find your flow. You’ll have to start by calming your mind and that seems to truly be the most difficult part.