The Most Important Audiobook Guitarists Must Know About

Victor Wooten, the award-winning musician (Grammy, Bassist of the Year… you name it) is also the kindest musician around and he kindly answered a few questions about his inspiring audiobooks. Read until the end to find out where his good heart comes from

A cool bass guitar player appears on a video titled The Best Music Lesson You’ll Ever Have. He gives a music lesson about improvisation that is packed with so many notes and words of wisdom. Here are a few: 

• When improvising, we shouldn’t place music theory in the front.

• It’s better to feel than think.

• “The coolest notes are the wrong ones”.

• “All the notes are right… but it’s the context that makes it right”.

I couldn’t agree more with all of those concepts. This approach is very close to my philosophy that there’s no such thing as a wrong note. I felt that this bassist, who I’d never heard of before, speaks my language. 

You can watch the YouTube version of that great video here:

A Musical Epidemic?

A few weeks later, I found a title on my audiobooks’ app: The Spirit of Music: The Lesson Continues. The title alone made me buy it immediately, without any idea who the author was or what the book was about. 

From the opening monologue about the musical epidemic to the first few chapters, it seemed like an autobiography of a bass player that had a lot to say about the modern music world. His words tapped into my world of thinking, as if the narrator was voicing my thoughts. For example, he says that music has “a more intimate relationship with computers than she does with people”.

It is so true. Think about it, the Spotify algorithm “consumes and listens” to music more than any of us. It also relates to many other issues, like the way musicians work on music, and the screens that divide musicians and music fans.

I liked what I heard and searched for the name of that author. One of the first results that showed up was the first video I mentioned above. It all made sense now. This is Victor Wooten.

Stop Playing Guitar, Start Playing Music

Later in the audiobook, there’s an emotional moment where Victor realises that something is missing in his life, despite his success in music. His way of solving it is by giving back to the music world. There’s something pure about this way of thinking.

So Victor begins to teach bass guitar to a kid named Jonathan, or to be more precise, music. “Once you stop playing your bass, you might start playing music”, Victor says to Jonathan. This is such a great sentence. It emphasises the concept of viewing our musical instrument as only a means to an end. We learn guitar not only to master the fretboard (craft), but to create meaningful music (art).

I wrote “teach”, but one of the repeated claims in the audiobook is that teachers can teach nothing. They can only show it. This idea relates to the constructivism theory that argues that we learn actively by ourselves. Teachers can’t fill us up with knowledge passively. Instead, we construct knowledge from our own experiences, whether from a teacher or any other interaction. 

Wooten expands on this idea in his inspiring TED talk and TED-Ed videos, where he advocates for a more intuitive approach to teaching music. He compares it to the very natural way of learning a language, inspired by his upbringing in a family of musicians. Watch here:

Back to the Audiobook…

Victor and Jonathan later discuss the 10 elements of music. But these elements are not the ones that are usually listed. For example, the element “notes” includes “melody” and “harmony”, which are commonly separated. Also, you probably won’t find elements like “feel” and “space” in your standard music theory textbook. (Wooten’s first audiobook, The Music Lesson: A Spiritual Search for Growth Through Music, goes deeper into these 10 elements, with greater insight.)

After those seemingly autobiographical events, there is a twist in the plot. Victor meets a stranger called Ali, and off they go on an adventure in Nashville, the Music City. They, and other musicians that join them, respond to music’s cry for help and are on a mission to save her. Music is threatened by the evil “Phasers” who are out to get her.

In my view, the dramatic plot serves mainly as a platform to express philosophical ideas with many nice puns on musical terms (like Gsus – Jesus). This way he raises important questions about the purpose of music, the way that music impacts people, and how we teach music. Beyond music, the storyline is also a tale about unity, spirituality and love.

Q. I listened to The Spirit of Music without knowing anything about it. It felt like an autobiography that turned into fiction. How much of it is based on real events in your life?

Victor Wooten: “I’m happy that the book stood on its own as a story. The Spirit of Music is actually the sequel to my first book called The Music Lesson. Both books are totally inspired by real events or thoughts, but it’s difficult to say or remember what was fact or fiction. I usually tell people that the lessons are real, although the story might not be. Whether it really happened, or not, should not be important. Whether we learned, enjoyed, or were inspired is important. Fact or fiction, it’s just a story by the time it reaches your ears.”

Q. Your audiobooks are not like any other. They are well-produced with music, full cast of character voices, and the experience is immersive. What came first, the writing or the audio concept? 

VW: “Thank you. The written book definitely came first, but because the characters were inspired by real people, I could always hear them speaking as I was writing. The great bassist, Chuck Rainey, is my inspiration for the character Uncle Clyde. He has a very distinctive voice. I could hear him the whole time I was writing.”

Q. It seems that you have a few important messages to convey about music in your books (and your TED videos). What led you to focus on fiction books over non-fiction? 

VW: “Fiction causes fewer arguments. People will fight to the death over their version of the truth. Also, because the books are written as fiction, there’s nothing I have to defend.”

Q. One of the main messages was about the power of a musical group playing live and its effect on people. But live shows are still not what they used to be before the pandemic. Also, social distancing had a psychological impact, and the idea that music is dying feels as valid as ever. How did/do you deal with the situation over the last few years? Any inspiring tips for other musicians?

VW: “I know that I’m a person who happens to play an instrument. And because I also know that live music will return, I’m making sure that I return as a better person, a better Victor Wooten­. Working on that person has been my focus. I’ve also been able to spend a lot more time with my wife and kids. We’ve all really needed this time together and have made the most of it. Realize this, Music is not about music. Music is about Life. So, working on my music without working on my life is a mistake. If I’m better, my music will be better.”

Q. In the guitar world, it seems that there’s an emphasis on shredding, playing fast and being virtuosic, while paying less attention to the other elements of music. What would Michael (one of the main characters) have to say about it?

VW: “Michael would make it clear that it’s up to you how you play, but if you want to work as a musician, there are things you must do and things you must know. He would lead the student toward the discovery of the elements and show them that those who use these elements when they play are getting work. Michael would say, ‘Play music more than you play your instrument. It’s not a mystery.’ “

Q. Curious to know what your next book would be about?

VW: “My next book is about my mother’s teachings, things my brothers and I heard her say over and over. I think that everyone should hear them. For example, she would say to us: ‘What does the world need with just another good musician? What the world needs are good people.’ That’s a powerful statement. Think about it, if we are putting lots of time, money, effort, and energy into something, it should make us and others better people. As I get older, I realize more and more what’s really important. I’m spending less and less time agonizing over whether I’ve practised enough.”

Watch Victor Wooten plays The Lesson, the main theme of his audiobooks:

Victor Wooten: Master of the Double-Thumb Technique

A few days after the interview, I recorded a guitar lesson about the double-thumb technique. It’s one example of playing guitar with our fingers in a different and creative way. I learned it from flamenco (a technique called alzapua) and searched who else uses it. Again, Wooten’s name appeared in the top results. As the master of this technique, I had to ask:

Q. Can you tell me how you came up with the double-thumb technique, and what does it allow you to do? 

VW: “All kids will naturally use their thumb when they first pick up a guitar. So, when I was really young, my oldest brother, Regi, taught me how to use my thumb in both directions, up and down. It is the same way he uses a pick on his guitar. It just makes sense. Now, there’s a name for the technique.”

It seems unrelated to the spirit of the book and this article to end with a specific guitar playing technique. But technique is one of Wooten’s 10 elements of music. If we arrange and prioritise the elements, technique might be first, since it enables us to play notes in various ways. With these notes we create and play music, which ultimately make us better people. Once more, I have to agree with Wooten’s approach. If the guitar is an instrument to create good music, then music can be an instrument to become good people.

I hope this article gave you some glimpses of wisdom about music and the wonderful and authentic person behind them. If you’re a guitarist, musician or just like music, I recommend listening to Wooten’s audiobooks to get some much-needed inspiration. They might even help you to define your purpose in life.

Click on the following images to download the audiobooks. They link to audible, which is the audiobooks app I’ve used. You can get a 30-day trial there!

Read more posts in the guitar blog, such as How to practice the guitar effectively without wasting time: