Blog # 14 街頭賣藝/夾樂圆/「樂」 Busking/Jamsical/Musicking
街頭賣藝真的是一門藝術，不只是單單的將一個人的藝術帶到社區上表演給路過的人。我覺得街頭賣藝其實是一種對個人有治療性質的活動，這個活動需要人去突破多重的心理障礙才能夠成功呼喚一人的肢體去願意攜帶所需的樂器然後踏出舒服的家/studio，還要有足夠的自信心但同時又不能有太多的自我意識(self-conscious) 去理會其他人的目光。
心理障礙也是一個有趣的東西, 很多時候我們會在我們的腦海裏面去自我製造一些想像出來的障礙，然後將自己困着在這些不能看見的障礙裏面。大多數的障礙也是和不同種類的恐懼造成: "驚冇面" "驚自己做得唔夠好/唔夠勁/" "驚唔知點做" “驚被人批評”
街頭賣藝正正挑戰這些所有的心理障礙，一旦這些障礙被破解，就能夠發現一個在平凡世界裏存在着的不平凡。
當我拖住我的行李, 準備找一個位置坐下, 將所有樂器攤開出來的時候，一萬個問題同時出現在我的腦海裏面: 可唔可以咁樣? 我應該喺邊度 '擺檔'? 啲人會點諗我? 撞到熟人點算？
但當有一個朋友可以一齊同我 '一齊癲' 的時候，要跨過這些心理障礙難度突然間減半，原來心理障礙也是可以分擔的。驚恐消失，我的思考空間也回來了，也是時候去觀察經過的人面上的表情和他們的反應。
我覺得觀察, 了解和分析其實是街頭賣藝最有趣的地方，你永遠不知道誰會停下來與你有言語上和音樂上的交流，他們會用什麼樣的互動方式: 例如有些人會拿出相機/手機好認真地影相; 有些人會不理會是什麼音樂但直接將錢放下便匆匆地走了; 有些人會直接問”你們接受捐款嗎?” ;有些人會沖着我們來問我們手上的樂器是什麼; 有人會十分好奇地想每一樣樂器也逐一試一試; 也有人會來聽聽音樂然後細談他們的人生故事。
最精彩的事件是一個上了年紀的婆婆，她一開始站到遠遠的看着我們玩音樂，我們邀請她過來同我們一齊玩，她走過來拿起一個小型非洲鼓, 因為不方面坐下來, 竟然願意站着用雙腳夾着非洲鼓然後開始拍打, “何家公雞何家猜, 何家小雞何家猜……士…多啤梨蘋果橙……士…多啤梨蘋果橙!!!” 我們用其他的樂器和她一齊jam 了至少十分鐘, 看見她面上的微笑, 知道她真的很享受這個音樂互動過程. 雖然多次地說要先走了, 但見到她的身體語言說她真的玩到不願離開。
這其實並不是一般的街頭賣藝, 這是「夾樂圓」打破了四面牆的空間限制, 將即興音樂帶到香港不同的社區和街頭, 希望可以連繫一班敢於嘗試, 好奇的陌生人一同去藉着即興創作音樂, 用不同的樂器去表逹, 抒發, 創造, 減壓, 連繫和關懷。
這就是上回文章提過的那一位紐西蘭作家史摩斯Christopher Small 所提及的「樂」 (Musicking), 音樂並不存在, 音樂不是一個物件, 是一個活動, 一個人與人之間的互動。
這也是音樂的靈魂, 音樂能夠將街頭上的陌生人連繫在一起, 音樂製造了一個看不見的空間令到人可以暫時將自己的防禦心暫時放下,令自己可以真誠地與他人互動。
夾樂圓會繼續定期地到香港不同的社區街道上邀請大家夾音樂, 有興趣的朋友歡迎同我地一齊jam!!
Blog # 14 Busking/Jamsical/Musicking
Busking is really an art form. It’s not as simple as taking your artistic talent and perform it on the street.
I reckon the act of busking is actually a therapeutic act on its own, it requires one to break through multiple layers of mental barriers in order to command one’s physical body to carry whatever musical instrument on their back/shoulders and step out of one’s comfortable home and then be confident but at the same time not too self-conscious enough to care what passerby would think about you occupying a public area.
Mental barriers are an interesting phenomenon, so often we create these imaginative barriers in own own mind and we trap ourselves within them. Mostly of these comes down to fear. Fear of loosing face, fear of not being good enough, fear of the unknown, fear of not knowing how, fear of being judged.
The act of busking challenges the mental breakthrough of all of the above. But once those barriers are broken down, one can begin to discover a whole new extraordinary world in the midst of the ordinary life.
As I unfolded my ground sheet to sit on, laying out a variety of instruments in front of me ready to play, a million of random questions pop up in my mind ‘Is this acceptable?’ ‘where should I put my mat?’ ‘What do people think of me?’
With a friend who came along with me to do this crazy act with me, the mental barriers are 50% easier to conquer…As we began to play and being totally immersed in the music, we started to forget about those fears inside our heads.
Fear disappeared, I now have the mental space to begin observing the facial expression and the reaction of the passerby.
Now this is the most exciting, intriguing and also addicting part of busking-you never know who would stop by and interact with you, and what kind of interaction they would exhibit. Some would simply take photos, some wouldn’t care anything about your music but drop some bills into your instrument case and quickly went away, some would charge directly to me and asked about the specific instrument I have on hand, some would be captivated by all variety of instruments and wanted to put their hands on every single one of them, some would come and chat with me and tell me about their life stories.
But one memorable incident where an older lady in her 80s stood far away to watch for a long while, we signaled her to come closer to play with us. She came forwarded and picked up a djembe, couldn’t sit down on the floor with us due to her knees problem, but was willing to squeeze the small djembe in between her legs to hold it, then started chanting in a Cantonese nursery rhyme as well as the verbalized rhythm "Straw-ber-ry Ap-ple O---range!" for a while “何家公雞何家猜何家小雞何家猜……士…多啤梨蘋果橙……士…多啤梨蘋果橙!!!" We picked up a tongue drum and some small percussions and started jamming alongside with her, her face brightens up with a smile as we jam along. She then told us about her musical background and her love for music. Despite her saying so many times “I have to go now….”, she stood still with the drum wanting to play some more!
This in fact is not a regular busking act, this is Jamsical out on the streets of HK, in the hopes of gathering and connecting a group of curious strangers to play together for self expression, creativity, relaxation and interpersonal connection.
This is musicking in action, where music has the power to connect total strangers on the street together, where music creates that invisible zone that allows people to put their unconscious defense down for a while and open up themselves to communicate with each other.
Stay tuned with more Jamsical out onto the streets of HK!!!! Welcomed to join us for some jamming!!