I don't actually remember when it was.
Okay, nice. That's awesome.
Any fun memories of like, who do you like going to, have you seen anybody who played the flute?
Expert wise, that's like an idol or have any mentors, protégés that come to mind?
I'm trying, I'm going to pull up the name.
I get to go see Nina Asimakopoulos, I don't actually know how to say her name, I should probably look that up.
I get to go to her movement class tomorrow.
So I have, I got certified at some point as a personal trainer and I like to do yoga and stuff like that.
Alright, welcome in to Vision Pros Live.
I'm Jackson Calame, I'm your show host. We'll be doing interviews for visionary entrepreneurs and guest leaders who are building fantastic visions out there.
Hey, hey, welcome in to Vision Pros Live. I'm your host, Jackson Calame, founder of First Class Business.
And I've got Vic Wheeler live with me right now. He is a flutarian and he has, he's an entrepreneur who's a flute extraordinaire and teaches people how to improv and really unlock their authentic self through music and expression.
So Vic, thank you so much for being here today. It's been awesome to get to know you, awesome to work with you and I'm super glad we're finally having you on the show.
Hey Jackson, well thanks so much for welcoming me on to the show today. It's going to be really nice to have a little chat with you that we can share with those of our viewers who are tuning in now or later.
I'd love to tell you a little bit about what I'm up to with flutarian and what's going on for me now.
Yeah, for sure man.
Jaime is going to be playing a production orchestrator in the background and we've got different music that we'll try to pull up. Hopefully that comes through, we might get Vic to play the flute for a little bit as well on the show.
So if you are a musician, this is going to be a treat. If you're a closet musician, this will be even more important and more fun because we're going to talk about how to gain the confidence to improvise.
And if you don't know what that is, we're talking about the ability to make up a song as you go or to accompany somebody on a song that you may have never even played in before and find the rhythm, feel the beat.
Vic's got a special talent for helping people do that in an entire program. So as we get ready to dive in, I do want to say, give a shout out to our sponsors Epiphany.
Rick Meekins at Epiphany is a great friend of mine, phenomenal business coach, business consultant, great provider of system architects. System architecture rather, he's more of a system architect himself.
And then there's also ablehealth.us. Check out what's being built over there with Dr. Seth Yates. It's a great fertility program that helps people get natural supplements who are trying to create their families.
There's also a great program for people who want to just have an optimized lifestyle for their health and healthy nutrition options, supplements, and also exercise programs. Very cool what he is building.
And of course, we want you to feel inspired to give back to the water project. I got an update yesterday regarding a water project that we donated to a year ago, and they do this annual update.
And we got to see some pictures of what's going on in the community now, how they're maintaining it, what types of feelings and expressions that it's brought to their life, the meaning of being able to go and take 30 minutes to get your water versus the hours event that it used to be.
And I can't imagine how hard that is. So if you're not keeping back to the water project, we hope you feel inspired to give back to somebody or something else today. It will fill your heart.
So with that said, let's dive right in, Vic. In 15 seconds, what's your vision for you?
For me or for my students?
For you.
For me. Well, my vision for me is that I would like to be able to 10, 15, 20, 50 years from now be able to have said, I've done something that made a difference to people, something that improved their lives, helped them create connections and memories that they'll take with them as long as they live.
So the way I do that is through music. But I look forward to seeing what other ways that may bloom in my life later on.
I love that. And so now to your question there, your students, your clients, those that you serve, what's your vision for those that you're serving?
Well, there's the more concrete vision and there's the more ethereal vision. The concrete vision is I would say if you're a flute student or teacher and I'd like you to be able to approach any improvisational scenario with at least a four out of five confidence level.
But on the bigger vision, the more abstract, what I want to bring people is I'd like to revive their passion in music if maybe it's been dampened by the intensely competitive professional world.
I'd like to allow or show flute players that they can play music other than just classical music. And in so doing, they can bond better with the people in their lives, their friends, family who might not be listening to classical music.
And when we do that, it builds this sense of confidence that I have personally found applies to other areas of life as well. So if I can show someone else that way, I'd be happy to.
Dude, that's awesome. All right. So you alluded to this quite a bit. We're going to revisit it though for anybody who's listening and considering you want to stick around. Who should listen, Vic?
You talked about some of that. Why should they listen to you though? And what might we get out of today's show?
Well, I want to acknowledge the fact that some of you who are listening are musicians and some of you aren't. But we all have to improvise. We have the word improvise because it means when something goes unexpected to plan or it doesn't have a plan.
And we all have to improvise sometimes. And I think that applying these techniques of learning how to change the rhythm or the mood or the breathing can help us all move through those moments when the unexpected occurs.
So if you stick through and listen to this, hopefully, even if you're not a musician, you can catch one little tip or two that you can take to your life that will help you move through those unexpected moments with joy.
Wow, dude, that was profound. So yeah, I hadn't considered as deeply as I just did when you said that how much improvisation takes place in life. And you're either a victim of the circumstance, right? Getting crushed by the wave of anxiety or fear, discomfort.
And that can be very painful. Or if you develop the right skills, maybe your body surfing that wave, you know, or maybe you've gained gained access to a boat where those waves no longer affect you whatsoever.
Wow, what a great thought. There's so many situations in life where we have to improvise. Let's look at some of those on a daily basis. What are some improvisation scenarios that people may overlook where your methods of breathing and other aspects could help them?
Well, I can tell a funny story about one of the last times I went to the grocery store and it's like, oh, corn is on sale. I can get all these things of corn and they have these flimsy little plastic bags to put it in. I jam a bunch of corn in the plastic bag.
Like, okay, I'm going to carry it to the register and it like burks through the plastic and I'm going, oh no, like I've got like a dozen years of corn and I had to stop and breathe for a moment and say, okay, I'm going to improvise here. These plastic bags suck. Are there some thicker plastic bags somewhere else?
So I put the corn back where it was and I took a happy little step over to where I could get some better bags and then put my things back in there. This is just one small scenario of, you know, something that happens in life that's unexpected.
But, and I've been listening to a book on my drive to Phoenix about good inside, about parenting our kids and how we're all good inside, both parents and kids, even if we're having a hard time. So hard things happen. And I think having kids is a good example of when we have to improvise a lot because we're dealing with someone else's energy and we can't predict that.
Do you have an example for me of when you've had to improvise recently?
So many. Well, I've got four kids so we're constantly improvising.
You know, with every scenario, whether it's who's fighting and why or how do you, how do you justify the sharing of the toy or the not sharing of the toy.
You know, whether it's, you know, what's for dinner because somebody turns out to be, you know, have an allergy. You know, it's about how do you think what you're getting at is about how you deal with that moment and that pressure and like you said, you can find a yourself and the confidence
sector of a four out of five stars where you're okay, you know what to do.
You know, you feel ready to make some adjustments or some changes. You know, you go to the movies with somebody and they don't like any of the movies that you want, and you're like, oh shoot, I better find a new plan.
Most people I think tend to fear panic react.
So let's dive into one principle real quick.
Let's dive into in fact, what powerful lesson, can other visionaries learn from your experience in regards to their improvisation situations and scenarios.
Wow, that's a powerful question with a, I hope, a powerful answer because I know Jackson you deal with visionaries on a daily basis and always improvising like nonstop.
Well, one of the pieces of advice that I've gotten in business that I've observed to be true is that the people who make it are the ones who stick to it.
And you've witnessed that I've gone through a few variations in my business plans and you also know that most businesses, statistically speaking, fail, and there's lots of factors for why that happens.
But I think it is true that at least for me, persisting with the passion has been most important and being flexible and the application of that passion has been critical.
Yeah, keep going, keep going on that. I'm just validating it.
Right, because you know sometimes you post something and it flops or sometimes you post something and it goes viral and you don't know why but you, you have to keep on persisting to get that information to get that connection and to learn
what your voice is. I'm learning how to talk to people who aren't advanced improvisers but they might have an advanced musical vocabulary, and I'm trying to show them how to take that vocabulary and instead of just reading it like a poem out of a book, rearranging those
words or assets that you have so that you can find a new path, the path of least resistance preferably.
Yes, yes, yes, yes. And you know what's funny, here's the truth, when I hear somebody share wisdom that is wisdom I've heard over centuries, right, through history, people repeating saying this is important, people who've had success that's stood the test of time, it just resonates in my soul.
And you said something very similar to what a gentleman named Ludwig van Beethoven said that hangs on my wall, and it says, don't only practice your art, but force your way into its secrets for it and knowledge can raise them in to the divine.
Wow, persistence. I need a copy of that.
It's from the piano guys, I went to their concert years ago. Yeah, if you don't know who the piano guys are, you gotta get on YouTube and see some of their stuff.
Credible musicians who also validated that experience, that thought about persistence. I'll save that story, this is your show not mine my friend.
Let me add one thing though because even for those of us who aren't musicians, think about what is your vocabulary.
What is your, because you can have a conversation with a five year old who only knows 100 words but they can express something passionately to you.
Right. So, consider what is your zone of excellence, what, what do you have, what assets do you have now, and how can you rearrange those in a way that might have been unexpected, and sometimes you need somebody like Jackson or me to say, try it this way, switch
these words around.
That's, that is the key to coaching. You're right, it's not that the basketball player doesn't know how to play your sports person it's doing the right thing at the right time in the right way.
You know, is all the difference in scoring or defending appropriately so well said dude.
So, why, why is this improv stuff important to you, you know like what what led you to to want to teach improv.
You can start with either one I bet you appreciate it before you want to teach it.
I was gonna say start with what led you to like, get interested in the idea of improvisation. But then I'd love to know how you got into the idea that, oh man I'm, I want to teach this.
Yeah, well it's, it's, it's been a full circle sort of experience where, when I think about answering that question I think about my history and I think about my big brother Scott who was buying me jazz albums when I was in middle school he's saying oh like, listen to this, listen to this.
And so I had family members who said, um, hey you know there's this whole world of jazz you're learning to play flute maybe you can learn a little bit of that.
So, it started with just music appreciation earlier on. And then when I was in high school, I got to experience playing in a couple of jazz bands and that just ignited my passion.
I was fortunate enough to have a piano in my home growing up and get some piano lessons and go to a church that had live music in it every week, and be close to the guitar player there who is teaching guitar lessons and one day I saw him saw him, who I thought was a guitar
player sit down at the piano and start improvising I watched what his fingers were doing. He, he I think he was playing that song heart and soul you've probably heard it at every party that has a piano, and I watched what his fingers were doing, and I went home and I tried it and clicked.
For all you piano players I realized if you, if you can play heart and soul in the left hand you can play any white key on the right hand, pretty much. And that's when I started noticing that some notes lead somewhere and other notes feel more like home.
So, then fast forward a couple of years I was able to move out of a small town into Houston, where I went to performing arts high school there there was a composer's club and there was an improvisation club we called ourselves uncertain outcome.
And that's where I got exposed to the idea of classical improvisation where we have classical instruments like violins and cellos, and it's not necessarily jazz music. And it's not necessarily even in a specific key signature we were doing everything from stuff that sounds like Mozart to stuff that
sounds like it came from outer space.
So, that continued as I went to college at the University of North Texas they have a very active composition and new music program there so I experienced the educational side of it got to open my mind to lots of different techniques and extended techniques for flute and different
sorts of ensembles. We started playing stuff like there will be a paragraph written on the page, and it says this is your music it's all words in English and you're supposed to make up some music from that and some people are so uncomfortable with that when they first step into
class but after a semester of doing that, they feel a little bit more confident.
So, but it was about halfway through my college degree that I was realizing, well, gosh it's hard to tell the story without getting personal my dad was getting sick in college, and he died of cancer.
And so it started this this downward spiral for me where I was just trying to figure out what am I going to do with my life what's what's going on with my family what what's going on with my grief. And I realized then that maybe one in 1000 of the flute players
in the program that I was in, we're getting a position in an orchestra, which is what I thought I was going to get when I graduated from college. So it was this like soul crushing experience is like, no matter how hard you practice, chances are like one in 1000 that you'll get this job.
So I, I just moved on. I worked at the Dallas Zoo for a little while I learned to talk on a microphone as an educator there in Austin I worked in a couple of different restaurants, but since I moved to Austin.
I started playing music because Austin is known as the live music capital, and I know there's live music happening in other cities too but there's just a vibrancy here that once one person at the restaurant I worked at found out that I played flute and convinced me to come out of my shell.
Next thing I knew it I was playing on our album. Next thing I knew it I was playing at house parties next thing I knew what I was joining this band cosmic butterflies with my, my brother friend cave who's written at least 144 songs and we've, we've barely gotten through 20 of them in our albums.
And I was playing at curtains which are. It's like a spiritual event. And I started reconnecting with the fact that music isn't a professional thing. It doesn't have to be music isn't for making money, music is for connecting us.
And I was going to these events and having these massive spiritual experiences where I meet when I met cave the first night that we met we played music together. And it's like, haven't you ever had that experience where you meet someone and in just a couple of hours you feel like
you've known them for a lifetime.
Well, yeah.
I feel like music really accelerates that process so I've, I've made so many connections here, as well as when I've traveled, since I've acquired these skills because I can go sit in with musicians, I can go sit in at a song circle or a campfire, and I can connect
with people in a way where they're saying thank you so much for for bringing your music, and I'm saying thank you so much for letting me participate and it's this memory making experience and what I would like to give to those flute players who are burnt out is a new paradigm,
a new reason to play.
I, I think that most of the people I help will, it will not be in a professional sense they're going to take this home and they're going to play with the radio at home they're going to play with their dad or their brother who plays guitar.
But some of the people that I help are going to be flute teachers, and they're going to take this home to their middle school and high school and adult students, and they're going to be able to to improve, they're going to be able to reinvigorate their their studio, as well as bring up.
So, new appreciation of flute. Let me say what I mean by a new appreciation of flute because most of the people in the professional classical flute world it's all classical music, and you're so tied to what's on the page in front of you that if you've played that
a lot of times and you're bored of it, then where are you going to find inspiration somewhere else. A lot of times people if they don't have a money making reason to continue playing. If they're stuck in the classical paradigm.
They'll just never pick up their flute because there's no classical music that's inspiring them right now, but I guarantee you all of those people because there's musicians I know they have a musical heart, and they turn on the radio, they turn on their Pandora or their Spotify and some song comes on
and they just can't help singing along with. I want to show people how they can use their flute like your voice when you're singing along in the shower or in the car.
That'd be awesome. That's so cool to be able to play the flute in the shower.
All right. You've covered so much that just drew so many positive memories and great heart feelings. If you're a musician I know you're feeling that too out there. From thinking about the campfire that I was at where there's a bunch of young men 14 to 16 years old, you know, trying to be cool, and one kid just had an incredible voice, and you know he was singing, and we didn't have him, we didn't have any instruments
but his singing was so powerful. There he is singing like a couple of Disney songs, and none of us went home and talked about this and would have admitted it, but we're all just captivated. And like you said, connected, because of his willingness, his confidence to be able to do that.
Once he had established a basic friendship with us, you know, and it can sometimes start out a little awkward in those scenarios and I remember it did it first, you know, very, very brief moment. But by the end of the night we were all like super awesome friends.
And I know that wouldn't have happened. I wouldn't remember that of the hundreds of campouts have had without him, and that experience. I won't forget him.
You know, but, but you reminded me of so many musical opportunities. I was second in state trumpet in seventh grade.
And I quit.
That was the moment I ultimately quit.
I didn't, I had kind of a similar experience that you had in college.
I thought about wow if I'm second in state at seventh grade like that means there's eighth graders ninth graders tenth graders and beyond that are all way better than me. And how can I turn this into a career.
If I'm not first in nation, you know, out of all levels I had this incredibly unfair inferiority complex that I didn't know how to overcome.
And you're doing, you're leading by example, helping people overcome that and, you know, ultimately, but you're not doing so with the mindset that you're just going to coach everybody, and I do appreciate that too.
You know that you're a flute teacher, and that you're helping in that and maybe you'll grow and expand beyond that. So, when you talk about flute, you talk about growth, I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm going to soapbox for you for a minute.
If you're, if you got kids that you want to learn instruments or you want to learn an instrument, and you want to go to sign up for whatever coach you want to.
I'm going to warn you.
There's so many coaches teachers that just aren't very good at what they do, and they can really ruin the fun.
And if they ruin the fun or the passion behind it because they get too stuck on the book, and what you have to do by the law, then you're going to have a hard time and you're not going to unlock the confidence in fact you're going to become scared of the language
and you're going to be like, Oh, that's not how you learn languages. So, finding a coach, finding a teacher, finding somebody to help you play that also understands improv and performance, and that makes the opportunity fun and something that applies to your personal
and your community. And that's the huge key to working with somebody and enjoying this type of a passion so big that's what I gained from you it's like man, I would, I would come to you and be like dude, how do I do this type of stuff for the trumpet, you know or how do I do this with the guitar.
Yeah, well, I just hear you talk about that I'm reminded of the fact that I would love to help everybody and that we have a limited amount of time so the way I'm foreseeing this going is, I'm going to test out these ideas with the flute teachers in my world who are ready to go right now.
And if it's working out good in a year, six months, two years, we can, I can collaborate with trumpet players. I'd like to find a method that works for all instruments, because we all deserve this experience if it's accessible to us.
Absolutely. And, and so, from a business model standpoint everybody, the flute players can certainly turn to Vic if you have an instrument though Vic and I have been talking about jam sessions and doing joint recordings and things like that so if you've ever wanted to record something
and I know you never hesitate to reach out to Vic and be like, Hey dude, would you be willing to record something with me.
And that might lead to you guys producing something on YouTube and who knows how viral that could go. Speaking of, you mentioned improvisation with classical instruments and being ahead of the times with that.
Now YouTube's come out, and a lot of great artists have been able to use their instruments and ways to go viral and start to open the mind of people out there who maybe saw, you know, I was trumpet player, brother, the flutes did not exist.
Y'all were not on the map, nor was the clarinet, who the heck knew what an elbow was, you know, all these obscure, you know, like my condescending trumpet ways back then you know you're super like, everybody just wants to hear the trumpet the rest of you go, go away.
You know, that was obviously not the case. But now with YouTube, and there's been so much mind opening, and with access to different cultures and things like that. A lot of us are catching like whoa, these instruments aren't just background instruments, these instruments
are things that can do many things beyond our wildest dreams. So yeah, tell me about that. What are some of the crazy things that that you've seen done with the flute.
Well, let me describe for you what a sound bath can be like, or a sacred sound circle.
You've entered into a church or a dojo. Yeah, yeah. You've entered into a church or a dojo and there's yoga mats laid out on the floor, maybe some blankets with pillows, and in the center you have a didgeridoo player, you've got me on flute.
You've got some single bolts. Didgeridoo, yeah.
It's the Australian Aboriginal instrument made out of a, it's a stick hollowed out by, a eucalyptus hollowed out by termites actually right.
You've got gongs, you've got singing bowls, you know, it makes a sound just like a wine glass.
In this sort of scenario, you recline, and you just let the sounds of the music physically move over you. Didgeridoo is a drone that, and it's a little bit rhythmic and when you're in the room with it you can feel it vibrating your chest, vibrating your body.
When I'm playing fluten in that room I can hear it bouncing off the walls and I can hear it kind of mingling, the sounds mingling with the people.
And these in a sound bath you're invited to just let your worries go. Don't worry about do you know the song, don't worry about, well, if you're laying back you might worry about, oh did I do the dishes, oh is my car full of gas, oh whatever it is.
And those experiences were showing people that you can, you can have those thoughts and then just let them pass through your mind like wiping them off of a chalkboard.
That's awesome. I'm trying to remember what the question was but.
You took us down the right path.
So we're talking about different things you can do with a flute.
And, you know, one of the things that came up to in our early conversation was that the song that's on in the background right now is one that was this was your first time playing along with a song or was that a different song we're listening to.
Yeah, this is the one I'll tell you guys a little bit about it.
So, Cable Lindsay is the spearheaded the Cosmic Butterflies band, and he wrote the song and we had gotten together it was me, Cabe, David Nuss our drummer, and Shiloh, our bassist, and I had never heard this song before we sit together, we're in a rehearsal.
And I was never able to play along like this recording. And that day became such a memorable moment for me, because not only was it a new meaningful song for me, but David our drummer had just returned from a surfing trip.
And as the as the song concludes, I see that he's wiping his face and he says I need, I need to go wash my face and he comes back and he says that song brought tears to my eyes.
Last week, I nearly died surfing, I got caught under the water.
I thought this was the end.
And he told us about that experience and
it's just so sweet to be able to have an experience like this with someone.
I'm watching, I'm watching his hands on the drum I'm watching the tears on his eyes. And then when he tells me the story after I'm filled with this gratitude that I know this man that we get to play music together on a regular basis.
And every time I listen to this song I reminded of the value of life, and that we won't always have the chance to play a song again. This song is going to be on the album lover songs for cosmic butterflies, but not this recording.
Follow me, check out the next recording. Ask me for this one and listen to them. How did they sound different.
Because one of the luxuries that I have as an improviser is that I get to savor those live, those live performances that aren't the same as on the CD or on the radio.
If I met Ed Sheeran or Lizzo today or whatever and they said hey let's let's cover this song of mine, I might record it because I want to save that memory, but I guarantee you it's not going to be the same as the what you hear on the radio.
So, guys, everybody listening in Vic has this superpower we can jump into any music event at any time.
I'm sure he has the, the respect to rank to gain permission and doing so.
But to be able to confidently step up on stage, you know or step up at an event and do something like that is something that I think most people would hide under the covers from, you know before like jumping in.
So, what are some of the, you know, when it comes to improvisation and having confidence like that Vic.
What are some of the secret developments virtues that we can, we can instill within ourselves. What are some practices we can do on a daily or weekly basis in order to make sure that we're unlocking that confidence about ourselves.
Yeah, well I almost wish I had mentioned this earlier because if there were only one mantra that our viewers take from this it would be listen twice, speak once.
We have two ears for a reason is what I've been told you know you should listen twice as much as you speak.
And I think this is applicable to our improvisational scenarios outside of music and life because when somebody's having a hard time emotionally.
What should you do you should listen don't tell them what's it what to think or do right.
And when there's unknown things happening in an art in our environment. We need to assess the situation, assessing an emergency situation is much like assessing a moment when I first step into a band I'm listening with my ears as big as possible to what's the rhythm what's the drummer doing what's the mood.
And I've learned to play less.
I've learned to play when it's appropriate, but it's one of the advanced characteristics of musicianship is is knowing when to play and not when not to play, knowing when to pass the microphone metaphorically speaking if there's not a real microphone.
But my, my, my practice of that listening twice and speaking once over and over and over again has allowed me to develop this way of listening, where I can.
I can either step in boldly here I am, or I can step in like a feather dropping in, and no one hears it.
And I'd like to be able to teach show people how they can gain that finesse, because that's one of the ways we can communicate with the people in our lives in a way that shows caring.
You know if you and I are having a conversation and I interrupt you and just like, get really excited about my idea and share it with you, you might remember that and have kind of an icky feeling.
But if you share your idea with me, and I reflect it back to you with double the enthusiasm. Wow, that's a memory made right there.
Yeah, but you can't do that unless you're listening carefully.
They say people don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care.
That's my favorite quote.
And it's not always easy to abide by but it's one of those things you can practice day in and day out. And one of the great ways to do it I love that quote you just said listen with your ears as big as possible.
And so, don't be ashamed of your big ears if you have them.
Cheers big ears.
So, very good. Yeah, cheers to big ears. Great.
All right, so, in relation to further developing confidence and authenticity.
Have you ever had a time in your life when you felt you couldn't show up as you, you know you weren't able to be as authentic and and show up as your vulnerable real self.
I was telling you a story earlier about this Christmas carols in my family and how there was a time when I do, maybe when I was 18, my family would say play the song with us jingle bells, Silent Night whatever and, and even though I knew I had the technical ability
to play the music and I was playing very advanced music in high school. I didn't have the maybe emotional ability to overcome that discomfort. And that's something that I'm going to be talking about a lot, and that's going to this going to breach the flute boundary
and that's, that's how to get over our performance anxiety because we're not always in front of a judge. When you're in music college, you've got to play your recital in front of all these flute experts who are going to tell you exactly what you did wrong.
But is that realistic for life? No.
No, like that never happens except in flute circles. And so I'd like to help remind people that even in those scenarios, you will survive.
You're not going to die.
And so one of the things that I've had to kind of persist through in life is those uncomfortable improvisations at Christmas carols that family when I didn't play it exactly right. But you know what?
The discomfort was all mine.
Meemaw and Mamaw, they, they're just so thrilled that there's live music in their home.
That, that I was, I spent a few minutes before this thinking about what would I, what do I want to share with, with musicians who are listening to the podcast and that's like, if you've been in the classical professional world, don't be afraid to take your instrument with you
outside of that. Take it with you when you're going to see your friends for lunch, take it with you when you're going to go visit your family, take it with you when you're going to parties, because when you're at a party and somebody finds out that you studied music, they're going to want to hear it.
And I think the only reason why people don't play a lot of times in those scenarios is because of their own personal discomfort.
And if, if we can learn to get beyond, yeah, if we can get beyond that discomfort, we can, we can give a gift to people. We can bring live music into someplace where there might not have been live music ever.
Yeah. You want to play a duet with me? Oh my gosh. I do not have the chops to, to do that. I have the chops to embarrass myself. You can play me three notes.
But real quick though, I want to add something to that. Yeah. If you've ever been in that situation where you've played in front of people and they've ridiculed you, right. People have said, oh, I thought it was going to be better than that.
I mean, like, oh my gosh, that can cut so deeply. And so yes, most people are going to support you. But I think one of the big keys on that is learning to amplify the right voices in your heart and mind.
I'm going to say that again. You have the choice to amplify the voices in your heart and your mind. And do you choose to focus on it doesn't matter. Maybe there's a hundred people who hated your performance.
But is there one person who you made a massive difference for and were you virtuous and the process live for the one ignore the many if that's the case.
You know, it's the only way to escape a constant vicious cycle of putting yourself down is to get the negative voices out of your head and learn to start controlling those.
One of the ways that I did that as well. I'll drop this link in there is this wonderful Ted talk called How to Not Get Offended. This helped me so much. So I'll embarrass myself.
Thank you for sharing that. If we might have the time to do it. Go ahead, Vic. I do want people to be blessed with your sounds on your flute. I'm much better with that thing in the background.
I am with this these days. But let's start with you. Go ahead. You lead the way. This is your show. Tell me what to do. Oh, well, I just wanted to say thank you for saying what you just said, because that is one of the skills that we need in life is learning how to listen to the people that matter.
And yes, so those who matter are the ones who edify and uplift you. Any other voice, even if it comes from somebody who loves you, if it comes in the in the constraint of contention or disrespect, let it go. Let it go. I got to talk to myself about that too. Go ahead.
Let's see. So Jackson, we can share a quick one or two minute improvisation and I'll give you the easy part. Play for me the most beautiful trumpet note you've played all day. And then you can play the note either below it or right above it. And then you can go back to that. If you do that a couple of times, I'll play something nice with you.
All right. And guys, if this isn't true on the audio system, we're not in a music studio or in a podcast studio of our own and on different Internet. So we'll see how this goes.
All right, I'll play an F. You said go up to a G and down to an E.
That was fun. Do you want to grab your guitar and play a guitar chord for me?
You can give me an A minor and a G major. What's that? You can give me an A minor and a G major. This is one of the chord progressions that I play most in the Kirtan circles.
Man, I could just keep playing that forever.
But I'll let you guys find that in the special links.
Oh, man. You're magical. That was awesome. So, yes, you guys, I'm not a super professional guitar player. I'll, you know, here's what I do.
No, even if I was a beginner, I did what I just did, just playing over and over on that. I don't know what you call it. Holding the fingers down right there. And then here too. Like, that's all I did. And because Vic's here and he's able to improvise with the process, you know, like we're able to make something sound really cool without having ever played together. We've never once played together before.
And the strumming patterns that I do, that shows that, you know, my improv, you know, like I made specific changes at specific times based on what I was feeling in my heart. And that, the ability to do that on a live broadcast, I can tell you, three years ago, no way.
Ten years ago, I would have died before doing this. Like, not a chance. I would have been so terrified because I was listening to the negative voices. I was listening constantly to the ones that were, that wanted to bring me down rather than those who were willing to bring me up.
So, make sure that you surround yourself with great people. Make sure you listen to the positive things that come out of people's mouths and put those on repeat in your head.
And also associate with people like Vic, who have the ability to help you, kind of like a personal trainer in an exercise room or workout, to learn new tricks, new tools, new ways to exercise and gain further strength because the abilities that can come and the blessings that can come to your life from unlocking confidence and being your authentic self, one, you just go to bed sleeping well at night and you get the peace Vic's talking about.
But two, life becomes a whole lot more fun and adventurous. Vic, anything you'd like to add at the end as we get ready to wrap up?
Wow, it's so great to connect with you, play a little bit of music with you. And I appreciate you stepping in there even as maybe quote unquote a beginner, because one of the things that I like to remind people most often is they call it playing music for a reason. It's supposed to be fun.
Playing. That's right. So you're man. So you beginners out there. Don't be afraid to have some fun. That's what it's for. Absolutely. Connect with Vic at Fluetarian.online. Also connect to them on Facebook, LinkedIn, wherever you're most comfortable. Reach out to them.
Find out about the world of improv and how it can improve your confidence, help you step in your authentic self and vision pros. We will see you on the next episode. Thanks for your time today.
Thanks Jackson. Thanks Vision Pros. Thank you for being here today. I'm really happy that you tuned in to Vision Pros Live. I'm looking forward to seeing your reactions as these episodes continue to move forward. This is going to get more and more fun. We'll have more and more engagement as well. We'll invite people to participate in the show. And thank you for giving us your time.