Resonate

A program to help musicians learn from each other through “musical conversation.”

From 2011–2013, I started a program called Resonate that provided enhanced learning through “musical conversation” based on Victor Wooten’s “Music as a Language.”

Being a live musician, one thing crucial to songwriting and performances was being able to play together. We were especially passionate about improvised jamming — studying Jazz and Blues. This involved getting into a room full of instruments and playing until something made sense.

When improvising, I discovered that when I started to play, I sometimes felt awkward, but 100% of the time towards the end, I felt like I was playing in ways I never played before — skills expanding by the second with no explicit teaching or practicing. “It was like we all were absorbing musical knowledge from the air.”

Resonate started small with jam sessions in garages and studio lockouts. As more people came, a meetup group was created. At one point, we were running weekly sessions in South of Market, San Francisco, and holding fully-improvised live shows.

Core Principles

1. There are no mistakes that are wrong
2. Celebrate and encourage mistakes, turn them into “purpose”
3. Surround yourself with others of all levels of musicianship. Teaching and learning are one and the same.
4. Listen to yourself through the band.
5. Points 1–4 could be wrong, and that’s all right!

Now, these core concepts of Resonate live on in the fabric of my current and future work, and I believe it is my purpose to support teams doing anything (not just music) by helping to create environments like this.