I wrote a post a while back about Jazz Guitarist Julian Lage and how he always seemed to be smiling when playing. Well, recently I was sent a YouTube link showing a five year old Polish boy playing drums. The first thing you notice, apart from the fact that for five years old he’s a wicked drummer, is how happy he looks playing music and I am again reminded that the ability to play music is a talent that should not be taken for granted. Every opportunity to play music should be considered a joyous event and approached as something you love to do and can’t wait to do. As Emily Remler states, “It shouldn’t be thought of as a chore” to practice or play. I realize that some days are better than others and that as we get older and become dependent on our skills as musicians to work and support ourselves and our families, the “innocence” or “gung ho-ness” may wane as we become dependent on a variety of sources necessary to pay the bills (ie: promoters, record labels, clubs, managers, a fickle public, etc…) However, if we can somehow tap into our “inner-child” and re-visit our instruments as we did when we were younger, we might find that spirit again. That spirit that allows us to embrace the Guitar as we were back in the day when we were “finally getting it”. When that ii-V lick finally found its way under our fingers, or when we were excited to show our friends that Donna Lee head we spent hours working on or that Coltrane lick we got that evaded us for the past two years…:) Basically. what I’m saying is, I hope we never lose the joy of playing, but if we do, let’s work on getting it back.

101 Must-Know Jazz Licks (A Quick, Easy Reference For All Guitarists) Written by Wolf Marshall. Instructional book and examples CD for guitar. 48 pages. Published by Hal Leonard. (HL.695433) See more info…