Victor Wooten: Music as a Language

When Victor Wooten was on tour in support of Sword & Stone and Words & Tones, my daughters and I caught a show in Falls Church, Virginia. Before that performance, Victor invited us to hang out with him and some of the other band members on the tour bus.

I’ve often wished I could have recorded that conversation, which was largely between my daughters and Victor, with some of the greatest musical advice I’ve ever heard.

For my daughter Sara – who plays guitar, piano and mallet percussion – the typical path to learning music was compatible. She had teachers, lessons and a practice routine, and it worked.

For my daughter Kayla – who first started on piano and later switched to drums – the routine was no fun at all, and it caused her to stop.

Victor mentioned in our conversation that we play music. And yet, the play part is often lost. I remembered how I learned early on, and felt cheated by the experience.

Thankfully, Victor spoke at a TEDx event and shared his thoughts on the learning music like we learned our first language, and losing some of the academics.

This is gold.

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  1. un maestro victor wooten de las 4 cuerdas, uno de los mejores de esta nueva era de bajista, y me justa su respeto a los pilares del bajo como , stanley clarke, jaco pastorius, alphonso johnson etc

  2. Brilliant, inspiring.