Music has always been a major part of my life.
I played saxophone as a kid and took up the guitar in high school. I played in several bands over the years and am in one now, contributing bari sax and classical guitar. I recorded 10 full-length albums of my own original songs and played sax, didgeridoo, and guitar on other folks' records.
Here are lessons I learned in the course of practicing music, that apply to psychedelic journeying.
Everything we experience in this life is interconnected -- the trick is to see the connections and learn from them. Because music is universal -- all human groups have it and prize it -- and because it's so deeply personal -- woven into the fabric of our emotions -- it is the ideal teacher!
Experience
I had a phase of practicing the baritone saxophone in my 40s, hours a day. I was in an exciting new band and wanted to shine. I found a teacher, Alex Harding, who is a giant of the instrument, and he said -- after seeing that I knew my scales and had solid technique -- "Let's work on your sound."
He talked about how you listen carefully as you play sustained notes, how you "draw out the colors" that you like, how you say to yourself, "I want to sound more like thunder!" and stuff like that.
What Happened
I practiced for hours in my basement, the most boring exercise you could imagine -- Every note on the instrument, held for as long as possible, with no embellishment, nothing. I played close to a wall so the sound with all its nuances reverberated back to me.
Gradually my sound improved to the point Alex said, "Wow, you sound like Bluiett!" A huge compliment from a master!
What it Taught Me
When you practice subtly tweaking your sound on a wind instrument like the sax, you are basically finding mouth shapes that enhance certain distributions of harmonics. Here's the key point: There is no way you could move your mouth parts in the right ways (to produce your desired tone) by being instructed to do so -- by being told, "Move your lower lip downward one millimeter," etc.
You do it simply by listening and playing, listening and playing... The key adjustments happen on their own, as you "draw out the colors" and imagine the sound of thunder.
Applied to Psychedelic Yoga
I have written extensively on the complex interplay between thoughts and feelings, how the breath and body (chakra system) are involved. The chakra system is like the inside of your mouth -- there are subtle movements and connections that you aren't conscious of, yet the shape of the inside of your mouth determines your tone (the most important aspect of your music!) while the state of your chakras determines your mood.
If the best way to improve your sound on the sax is not to consciously move muscle by muscle inside your mouth in a deliberate way, but rather to relax and focus on what you hear -- then what is the best way to relax the chakras so they move toward balance, bringing both energy and peace of mind? By focusing on the breath.
To improve your musical tone, focus on your sound -- to improve your chakra balance, focus on your breath!
Experience
I was practicing saxophone for hours every day, but I had to take frequent breaks. My embouchure (the muscles around the mouth) would become exhausted, my tone would go flat and I'd have to rest. Each time I picked up the instrument again, my embouchure would get exhausted more quickly.
I was complaining about this to a professional cello player. He described how the Alexander Technique, a yoga-adjacent set of exercises, had improved his stamina on the cello. He suggested I focus on my core muscles as I played. I thought, "What does the cello have in common with the bari sax, and how could focusing on my abdominal core relieve my tired lips?"
What Happened
I gave it a try and it was like magic. I focused on my core muscles as I played scales and exercises, and my embouchure lasted many times longer! After a while, the problem went away entirely.
What it Taught Me
Focusing on the core had two benefits. One, it made the pressure applied by my diaphragm, the "engine" of a wind player's sound, more uniform and smooth. Two, it distracted me from obsessing over my fast-tiring mouth!
Applied to Psychedelic Yoga
Pain often comes from an immediate physiological cause. But it also may take on a "life of its own" and be perpetuated by the suffering person's continued obsessive focus on it.
As I journeyed with psychedelics, hoping to alleviate some of the trauma-pain stuck in my body, I realized that focusing on other parts of the body often allowed pain to "move," become unstuck and be released. For example, focusing on my root chakra brought uncanny awareness to the energies of my throat and heart, allowing painful emotions to be expressed.
Experience
I have asked my teachers who are masters of their instruments about tiny details, not only of practice technique but also gear. Every aspiring musician goes through a phase where they think, "If only I had this particular guitar -- or sax mouthpiece -- or microphone, etc., then my sound would be perfect!"
What Happened
These masters gave thorough, impassioned answers. Hardly ever was the response, "It doesn't really matter." There were strong opinions grounded in years of experience and tireless practice.
What it Taught Me
There were two lessons. One, it is good to assume the master's advice -- even if there is no obvious reason behind it (such as a scientific explanation) -- is wise. -- Because it usually is. When a virtuosic sax teacher told me to practice every fingering of B-flat, he knew I'd come to appreciate the subtle differences in timbre and intonation. When a pro advised me to spend time with "air attacks," a strenuous technique that is never used when playing actual music, he knew my handling of the instrument would radically improve.
Two, it is not always true that the master's explanation is valid. They are human and thus susceptible to all sorts of cognitive biases. For example, I was told to replace my neck-strap with one that had a copper hook (as opposed to plastic) -- that it would make a huge difference. Not only could I imagine no plausible scientific basis for this, but I found a double-blind study online that proved it to be false. (And other master players said the hook-material was irrelevant.) People pay ridiculous sums for platinum flutes when it almost certainly makes no difference.
Applied to Psychedelic Yoga
This is my approach to knowledge that comes from ancient wisdom traditions all around the world.
I assume the practices have a deep scientific basis, even if such bases have not yet been found. For example, I believe the technique of visualizing the Tibetan letter, "Ah," in Tibetan Dream Yoga, has an effect on written-language centers of the brain, that in turn improves dream recall and the vividness of the dream. I think brain scans would reveal this.
But I also assume that some of the knowledge in the ancient wisdom tradition is arbitrary and does not have a scientific basis. After all, some 12th Century priest could easily have snuck in their own quirky ideas and without a scientific method, these ideas would just keep getting passed down the generations.
For example, the colors associated with chakras vary from tradition to tradition -- Either one tradition is right and all the others are mistaken, or color-associations with chakras are arbitrary. (Though it's important to note that the location of the chakras does not vary so much, nor does the idea of how chakras relate to mental health.)
One More Connection to Psychedelic Journeywork
Music is universal to human groups and is beloved by countless people. Whether music emerged before language, the other way around, or they emerged together (there are many connections between them!) is a hot topic in science. But what is relevant here is that music engages the emotional system directly, improves motivation, and strengthens social bonds.
It is also true that music has powerful mnemonic powers. If you put a list of random words to music, adding devices like rhythm and rhyme, you will be able to remember far more words and retain the memory for far longer. This is why the earliest teachings of human beings, that were so important they had to be shared with future generations, were expressed as poems or songs.
I have begun to experiment with what I term the "Musical Breath." I am treating my breath as a musical instrument, making swooshing sounds, growls, whistles and whispers and pulsing rhythms.
I bring this musical breath into my psychedelic experiences and find the practice joyful and full of unexpected surprises! More on this method as it develops...
Do you have a relationship with music? How has music -- your appreciation and/or practice -- influenced your approach to psychedelics?
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