Conversations in Music

It’s fun to have cousins that share the same interest in music and playing music as you do. Some of my cousins have been interested in music since they were very young and have learned to play different instruments throughout the years competing in several competitions. When we were younger we never talked much about music or ever played together, probably because at the time I was taking my not so favorite “piano lessons” and didn’t care too much about music until I started playing the guitar on a regular basis.

In the recent years we’ve had many opportunities to play together with our different instruments. My cousin started playing the guitar a year or two after I started. Whenever we got the chance to play together, which is a rare thing considering he lives in Louisiana, we’d always save some time to jam. It’s always more fun to play with other musicians whether it’s one person or a group of people. For me it’s always a time of encouragement to try new things, and it amazing how you can actually have a conversation through music with the other person. Sometimes you’re just communicating that you really like the sound of something by adding to it, telling the person to “take it away” by quieting down and playing for a background piece, or maybe you don’t like the sound you are creating and you decide to take a different twist to it, therefore, you make eye contact or watch closely to the fingering of the other person at the same time changing the mood of the music. I’ve been able to play with many different style musicians throughout the years a former rock band lead guitarist, fellow “self-taught” player, a worship leader, and my own family whose musical instrument consisted of guitars, mandolins, banjos, pianos, trumpets, and drums.

It’s a pretty fun experience and if you play a piano, banjo, guitar, flute, trumpet, or mandolin I would encourage you to get together with at least one other person who likes to jam. You will have entertainment for hours while learning new things and sharing your own discoveries as well.