Music contemplation – part 1: an introduction

This talk we had in Jogj* Chicken somehow got me realized that i should be grateful for my music journey: the many so-called obstacles i had to deal with and the lessons i learnt from those, the fact that i went to public school instead of music school ... such. Added with these last few months of music contemplation –thanks to The Real Group- i guess now i’ve found out where i stand in this music thing, and so i can define where to start. Well. Let’s go back to JogChic and do some rewind, then.

The music talk always came up each time i met my brother –it’s like an automatic reflex when two shopper girls run out into each other and suddenly just talk about some new-arrival shoes. This four people meal (me, my brother, mbak pacar, and my friend *d*m) at Jogj* Chicken was not and exception. Hearing me and my brother discussed about Ariyo Wahab’s new band, *d*m spontaneously gave comments, “(kakak adik) sama2 musisi ya.” Well. Me my and brother heard this comment many times before and usually we just let it ‘pass by’. I rarely bother to ask what my brother think, but just in case you wanna know, in my heart i always respond like, “yes my brother is a musician, but not me. I’m plainly a music freak, that’s all.” I mean i sing well, but many people sing better than me; plus i kinda believe that you can’t really call someone a musician when he/she doesn’t make his/her own song/composition, and that’s what i am: someone who never made any meaningfull song/composition. Well. Let’s talk about it further may be later in this note, but let’s get to what Adam said next which was, “kaya aku sama adikku.”

me and my brother (in yellow circles) ; good partner in music :p

This of course tickled me and so i asked what kinda of music does his brother do, and he explained that his brother is a drummer and have a good band who have won competition(s) .. and that his brother who’s in eleventh grade doesn’t really do his best academically due to his ‘addiction’ to music. At first i thought, “yah. Namanya juga ‘musisi’ abege. Musisi abege mana sih yang nggak labil dan pingin menguasai dunia dengan musik..” coz i was once ‘musisi’ abege and i thought i know how did it feel. But later when he mentioned that his parents were concerned about his brother’s –just say- poor academic achievement that he might be having troubles getting into college and *d*m said that he suggested that his brother should be put in music school, i immediately spoke up something like,

“Err kayanya nggak bisa deh masuk sekolah musik kalau nggak punya basis teori musik yang bagus.” My brother kinda supported this argument and to further confirm this argument, i asked *d*m,

“Adikmu belajarnya drum-nya otodidak kan? Nggak ada basic teori baca part not balok gitu gitu?” well I’m not sure he said yes but i guess the gesture said it. Besides, like i’ve mentioned, i’ve been a ‘musisi’ abege also, and i kinda know what kind of persons musisi abege’like so it was not kinda predictable. Plus, this was what i just realized, good musicians –the ones who have survived the challenges of time and trends- are usually humble, open-minded, and happy. Sadly, his brother doesn’t seem to have any of those so seems like his brother is in ‘danger’ now ...

To be continued to “music contemplation - part 2”