Saying yes can go way beyond accepting a party invite. It could lead to playing your horn more and even finding a cache of bells in the neighborhood. Here’s how that happened for me.

A few weeks ago, I took a call from Lee. He had a favor to ask. “Meg, can you fill in for me at band rehearsal tonight? I’m not feeling well.”

I had just listened to a great story on Ted Talks by a woman who said “Yes” to everything. It was a bit of an experiment to see where it would take her. Pretty far, it turns out. (Can’t find her talk. Darn.)

Naturally, I replied to Lee, “Yes.” It was the first rehearsal by the group in preparation for their July concert. We were all sight-reading. I came home all pumped up and happy. Playing great band music with a group of talented musicians does that to me.

Keep On Yessing

Since then I’ve been saying yes a lot more. Just a few days ago, Dan asked me to fill in for him on tenor at another rehearsal. More fun was had by all.

About the time Lee called me, I was talking with my friend, Poeina, about her upcoming CD that she was recording. Since I had worked with her before, I felt comfortable creating my own “Yes.”

“If you have any sax parts that you need covered, Poeina, I’d love to record with you again.”

“As a matter of fact, Meg, I do have a tune that I could use you on.” I ended up recording both alto and tenor sax parts on a tune for her disc. This saying yes thing sure produced some great results.

A Bell Of A Sale

I headed out on my walk Sunday morning, hoping to get to the top of Mt. Tabor and back. At the traffic light, I saw this simple sign: “A bell of a sale (with an arrow pointing to the right)” Intrigued by the sign, I said “Yes” and turned right.

Just a few blocks from my home, I discovered a musical yard sale.

Discarded and unused tanks, from stand-alone propane tanks to hand-held fire extinguishers, have found new life as musical instruments. Ray Banfe, retired demolition worker, cut, soldered, and painted up these tanks of various sizes to create bells. A softball glued to the end of a foot-and-a-half length of rebar became a striker.

Handing the striker to me, Ray instructs me to “hit it low and hard.” “Yes!” I said and did.

The Bells of Banfe

What a beautiful sound – deep and ringing. What pitch is that, I wondered. I went home and brought back my tuner. Turns out Mr. Banfe has a collection of bells that produce pitches spanning an octave and a tritone, aka a diminished 12th. Check out these short bell movies.

Big bell movie, 9 seconds. D-bell-iPhone movie, 5 seconds. combination bells movie, 11 seconds.

Ray says he’s not a musician. I politely disagree with him. We are all musicians. And we humans naturally find ways to make music whether intentioned or not. Ray Banfe aptly demonstrates that.

On a Sunday walk through the neighborhood, I say yes to a curious sign and discover the bells of Banfe! Not only are we all musicians, but music is everywhere!

Questions to Ponder

1. Where are the opportunities to say “yes” in your life?
2. How will you express your inherent musician self this week?
3. Where will you be surprised by music?

Thanks for reading. The next issue of Musician’s Motivator will be out on Wednesday, July 14, 2010.

If you liked this, you may also want to read:

1. Inspiration On A Nature Hike
2. What’s Your Musical Genealogy?
3. Taking Your Music On The Road