Repurposing
After watching a short interview this afternoon, I feel inspired. You see, back in the late 60s, there was a prog rock group that hit my musical fancy spot. Jethro Tull. It took me years (and a random encounter with a Swiss tourist) to get the answer about how to make THAT flute sound. Of course, I didn’t use the information beyond the most basic level.
I had this conviction that Ian Anderson was just a super skilled musician (he is) with years of training and practice (he wasn’t). In fact, on a whim he traded in his Strat on a flute hanging on a shop wall. And then he taught himself to play, using non-standard technique (which he has since unlearned and relearned). So, here we are. A new year, no need to trade anything in (I have the flute; not Ian’s; my own) and lots of time. I even have my head around the proper fingerings and a few other tools of the trade. Perhaps I can repurpose my life. Go off, join a prog band, tour the planet. OK, maybe not. But I can still have fun, right?
Now if I could just come across a tuba, hanging on a wall in a shop, and trade in my Strat knockoff. That could get real! Once again, I know the fingerings and a few other tools of the trade (I can adjust valves and rotors, depending on the instrument I find). Is it time to start visiting music stores, hither and yon, and see if I can get famous that way?
