Victor Wooten: Music As A Language

Victor Wooten is widely considered one of the best bass players in the world, known for a free, expressive style. In this TEDxTalk from May, 2013, he tells the story of his introduction to music at age zero and the tutelage he received from his four elder brothers.

Wooten extends this discussion into a comparison of music and language. He argues that music should be learned in the same manner as one’s native tongue; that is, freely and with an immediacy that typically is not found in traditional music instruction. He supports practice but calls it a “slower” way of attaining progress compared to the contextual nature of early language learning.

Truthfully I have never found a philosophy on music closer to my own than that expressed by Wooten. The talk is about 18 minutes long, but don’t skip through it because Victor drops gems at every turn.