Wonder and Awe in Music
Music is the greatest source of Wonder and Awe in my life. But I am not sure if the entirety of the internet could hold all the mysteries that music holds, so I will devote this website to a very small rock in the music universe that has had me filled with wonder and curiosity since the very first time I heard it. It is Chris Thile's mandolin solo in the song "Ode to a Butterfly" as performed by Nickel Creek.
Click to video clips of Chris Thile and his incredible skills.
The solo comes after the bridge following the second time through the melody. In the solo Chris Thile manages to hit every single note with clarity of tone and perfect pitch and percusivness. This by itself may not seem like a big accomplishment, but when you consider the speed at which he is going(sometimes up to 16 or more notes per second), and that he is going as high as the twentieth fret on the finger board(where the space in which to put your finger is about a half centimeter), it seems impossible and yet you are hearing it with your ears.
I myself have tried to play this song on the mandolin. I have been working on this one song on and off for over a year and I can play the basic melody but not nearly as fast. I have many times attempted to play this amazing solo, but not surprisingly, I have never once played it through perfectly even when going as slow as humanly possible. It is very complex, but to my further wonder and awe, every recording, concert, or video that I have heard him play this solo on, he plays it differently and in most cases, with even more complexity that he used on his original recording of "Ode to a Butterfly."
This song will probably never cease to amaze me, to fill me with wonder at its mysteries. One of the most memorable moments of my life was when Chris Thile played this song not on a stage or in a studio, but under a tent sitting less than ten feet away from me. Watching his fingers move with incredible speed and agility, the impossible was true, I couldn't believe my eyes.