Mark Kelso’s Philosophy
The Circle, The Clay, The Water
The Circle, The Clay, The Water
The great martial artist Bruce Lee had a tremendous impact on me not only from a martial arts point of view but also from a philosophical one as well. I found that many of his words of wisdom were also applicable to music. My favourite ideas are about the learning process. I am paraphrasing and condensing his words but hopefully the points come across.
Bruce’s idea was that the learning cycle should be like a circle. Here’s what he had to say.
“The circle has no beginning and no end. It is a constant cycle of learning. When the untrained person hits a drum, it’s a totally natural and instinctive thing. They grab a stick and hit the drum. It’s that simple. Now if that person starts to study how to hit the drum correctly their thought process starts to change. They can get bogged down in technique, sound, accents, movement etc. The natural flow is gone. One should never lose sight of the original feeling of just hitting the drum. Obviously, this is not a short learning process. Too many people want to learn too much too fast. Playing the drums is a lifetime of study for those who take it seriously enough to do so.”
The learning curves can take us through all sorts of torturous setbacks and exciting breakthroughs. The aim is to get through all that and make it back to the beginning of the circle. With the knowledge amassed one can simply hit the drum but with a big difference… You actually know what you’re doing and how you’re doing it with control and purpose. You merely react instinctively to any given setting. A sort of “Cosmic Awareness“. That’s how I like to approach music.
Another of Bruce’s philosophies was regarding an artist and clay. This can definitely be applied to music and drumming!
“When creating a sculpture an artist will pack lots of clay pieces together into one giant clump. After this they start to remove all the unnecessary bits to refine the shape. They get rid of what’s not needed and use only what’s useful. In the end they have a piece of art that has no excess.”
Bruce thought that a martial artist should be like water. Forever flowing, calm yet powerful, liquid and moving freely. This has been a useful concept for me to think about when playing drums.