Building Blocks

For the past few weeks, I've been learning to play some of Rich Mullins' old songs on the hammered dulcimer.  (I enjoy playing either billiards or hammered dulcimers to link with the kids or relieve stress at the end of a day!)  But I wouldn't have a prayer of getting anywhere close to playing these songs without internet teachers.

At least two guys -- Martin and Nathan -- have put video tutorials for Rich Mullins' songs on youtube.  I just found them, and they are so very helpful.  When I ran into a problem, I e-mailed Martin, and he answered my question that same day. 

Right now, I'm working on Calling Out Your Name.  Creed is next.  And then we'll have to see -- could be Sometimes by Step or could be 78 Eatonwood Green, except for the fact that no tutorials for these two songs exist yet.

Yesterday, we learned that Coldplay plays a Middle Eastern version of a hammered dulcimer on its instrumental piece Life in Technicolor.  Drew hammered it out here pretty quickly.  

It's harder, though, to play this instrument as a part of a group.  Jonathan came in with his guitar, and I totally fell apart on the hammered dulcimer.   There's a lot of practice ahead to get it nailed.

Anyway, my internet research to find the tutorials caused me to trip across a blog entry by Steve Stockman about the making of 78 Eatonwood Green, which is an actual real address in Ireland that you can see on Google Earth.  Stockman's entry is a stream of consciousness that's worth a read if you love the music of Rich Mullins.  The odd thing that caught my attention was this line:  "Rich had three fellow college students with him and we spent the night listening to some freaky music Rich liked, Steve Reich . . . ."  

So, of course, I had to go out on iTunes (and wikipedia) to find out who Steve Reich was.  All I can say about Steve Reich is -- well, I really can't explain anything.  Reich has been playing music since the 1960s.  His music is called "minimalist."  I guess you could say he simply experiments with sounds and patterns.  Stockman had it right when he called it "freaky."  

And yet, I think I know why Mullins liked it.  Reich provides building blocks upon which others build rather complicated and interesting music.  The more you listen to Reich (and you don't have to listen to much), the more you hear what he does coming through so much music.  These building blocks give music a depth and complexity that it would not have otherwise.  

So . . . listen to 15 minutes of Reich, and then go and listen to 52:10 or 78 Eatonwood Green or Calling Out Your Name or Creed.  They all seem to incorporate Reich.

Building blocks are pretty important in life.  We take the basics that we get early on, and we layer on top of that the remainder of our life.  And that's probably pretty important somehow -- that we have those building blocks and all.  And those building blocks add depth, diversity and a beautiful complexity to our lives.