The Uke as a living, breathing, sexual being???

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mendel

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I was speaking to the Band Director at the high school I teach at. As I have mentioned before, I teach at my alma mater, and the Band Director there was my teacher when I was a drummer in high school. We were talking about music the other day and he said something that was really interesting, albeit, a bit sexist.

He said that he views instruments like women. He said that when he picks up a horn or a fretted instrument to play it, he considers it like he is putting his hands on a beautiful woman and the way he plays the instrument is his attempt to make it erupt in a powerful orgasm. He then showed me a video of Jake playing Bohemian Rhapsody that I have watched countless times and said "Do you see how he makes the instrument scream out? Do you see how he caresses it and makes it whisper in tongues? That is what a musician is supposed to do. He is supposed to make the instrument seem like it loses control in the throes of ecstasy."

Until then, I had never heard someone speak so passionately about music. It was certainly an odd conversation, and I am not sure if others would agree with him, but his point of view was really interesting to me. I wanted to share it with you all and get your points of view on this? Is he completely crazy, or does he have a point?

Mendel
 
he plays the instrument is his attempt to make it erupt in a powerful orgasm. He then showed me a video of Jake playing Bohemian Rhapsody that I have watched countless times and said "Do you see how he makes the instrument scream out? Do you see how he caresses it and makes it whisper in tongues? That is what a musician is supposed to do. He is supposed to make the instrument seem like it loses control in the throes of ecstasy."

Well, now I understand why people always recommend wiping down the uke after you play it.
 
I thought of Swiss Toni as well! :D

Playing the ukulele is like making love to a beautiful woman...
 
Kind of creepy, especially for a high school band director.
 
Sex and music are two of the most intense communication methods available. I definitely see the connection.

I don't think it's "creepy" for a high school teacher to make the analogy, either. Remember, everyone, Mendel is this guy's co-worker, not a student. In the USA, public discourse about sex is almost entirely relegated to sales/advertising. When anyone shares an honest opinion about sex as human communication, it's a step in the right direction.

Oh, I just noticed my Kamaka gave me a slow, sensuous wink. Gotta go.
 
I think I need a cigarette after reading his description...
 
On a serious note, watch anybody who is a virtuoso at their craft - whether music, art, or coding computer programs - and you will see them absorbed and at-one with the tools of their art. Picture a great musician - how often do you see them with their eyes closed, fully engrossed in their music? How about a clay artist - actually using their hands to explore and mold and create. Even that programmer I mentioned - they will be glued to the screen, their hands on the keyboard, code flowing out of them and oblivious to the world around them.

Creating is a very sensual thing - it involves multiple senses - touch, sight, sound - heck, I'm no great musician, but the smell of the wood in my uke helps to transport me to a place where sound is created and molded and blended.

Considering all that, is it really such a jump to equate the experience to sex? I mean...in its purest form, sex is the ultimate process of creation, isn't it?
 
The high school music teacher is describing the psychological process of "flow", albeit in a very creepy manner. Flow is the mental state of operation in which an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity. Jake is in the state of "flow" when he plays the ukulele. I guess you'd want to be in "flow" for sex too :cool:
 
I've noticed the things you mention whenever an individual is completely absorbed in a task. that experience of. Omete absorption is sometimes called "flow".
 
You posted that last from your phone didn't you? ;)
 
http://youtu.be/406eP__kWDI

"You're always cursing and you're always praying and you're always making love. It ain't "do re me fa so la ti do"...

But I think a lot of people go overboard with this concept because it's "cool" or because they can make themselves seem "holier then thou". Just play the music and do what you gotta do to make it come from your heart/soul.
 
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I love cuddling and canoodling too but to dscribe an instrument - an inanimate object - experiencing the intense emotions of ecstacy and joy as they relate to sex is a bridge too far for me. That said, I did lock two of my tenors up together in the wardrobe one night and when I opened the door in the morning there was a little soprano lying in between them. Aaaah, the uke is and always will be the instrument of love.
 
just an aside on Jake's videos...i've watched a few too and I definitely don't see any instruments looking like they're having an orgasm, but Jake sure looks like he's having multiple...

and to me that's the point...let's not anthropormorphise inanimate objects...it is us who gets all the pleasure whether we be musicians or listeners. Music is an intense form of creative expression given and received between PEOPLE!
 
... let's not anthropormorphise inanimate objects...it is us who gets all the pleasure whether we be musicians or listeners. Music is an intense form of creative expression given and received between PEOPLE!

I dunno. Have you seen some of those incredible Moore Bettah ukes out there? I think they could inspire some human/wood hybridizing.
 
Clear as the sun.

It's super obvious to me that the band director wanted to fondle your gig bag.
 
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