The Spirit of Music: The Lesson Continues

by Victor L. Wooten

Grammy Award winner Victor Wooten's inspiring parable of the importance of music and the threats that it faces in today's world. We may not realize it as we listen to the soundtrack of our lives through tiny earbuds, but music and all that it encompasses is disappearing all around us. In this fable-like story three musicians from around the world are mysteriously summoned to Nashville, the Music City, to join together with Victor to do battle against the "Phasers," whose blinking "music-cancelling" headphones silence and destroy all musical sound. Only by coming together, connecting, and making the joyful sounds of immediate, "live" music can the world be restored to the power and spirit of music.A VINTAGE ORIGINAL

Genres: Music, Fiction, Philosophy, Fantasy, Audiobook

360 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 2, 2021

About the author

Victor Lemonte Wooten is an American bass guitarist, record producer, educator, and recipient of five Grammy Awards. He has been the bassist for Béla Fleck and the Flecktones since the group's formation in 1988.

Reviews

[greggo · Rating 2 out of 5]

i loved the first book, the music lesson, and i kept wanting to love this one but it’s less of a lesson and more an incoherent pile of coincidences, tensionless conflict, and vague complaints about the ‘digital era’ that is so preoccupied with the power of magical thinking to prevail over any foe that it forgoes supplying any actual foe to prevail over. i’m glad he’s having fun writing fantasy but i wish he hadn’t piggybacked on the fantasy structure of the music lesson. i kept waiting for more of the good sense insights about music and then the book was over. i literally just talked myself out of another star.

[Zibby Owens · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Spirit of Music is a beautiful story that reads like a love letter to music and its role in the author's life. In this fable-like story, three musicians go to Nashville to join Victor to battle against the "Phasers," whose "music-canceling" headphones destroy music. Only "live" music can restore the spirit of music.

I loved one section where the author was feeling bedraggled and unfulfilled by his crazy touring schedule. He talked to his dad and said, "I'm not making time for music." Dad said something to the effect of, "Then you're not making time for you." In this book, music becomes a parable for the world. We can say the same thing about the environment or mother nature. Music is for the greater good.

To listen to my interview with the author, go to my podcast at:
https://zibbyowens.com/transcript/vic...

[Arnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Victor Wooten and his cast of characters from The Music Lesson return to help him save music from disappearing. The very real Wooten Family wisdom and magic is lovingly tucked between these pages. ( I know it's real because I've seen and heard it for myself in person!) Fantasy? Fiction? Maybe, or maybe not! Either way... Magic. This book will make you think about music in a whole new light... and that's the whole point.

[Johnny · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book, unlike the first installment, has no direction. In the Music Lesson we were given 10 elements of music which were weaved into a sort of fantastical story with a fair share of new age "woo woo". Whereas this book is ALL "woo woo" and zero substance. I would say it's a mix between The DaVinci Code and The Secret with a random element of anti digital media propaganda. Even taking that for what it is, the story itself was poorly written. No real stakes, drawn out interactions, cringe worthy dialogue, and flat characters. If Victor wants to continue writing in more of a fantasy genre, he needs a ghost writer. Regarding books from musicians, this is tied for me with the Charles Mingus biography as worst of the worst. Lastly, whomever was in charge of hiring the voice actors for the audio book needs fired. Love you Victor, but what in the hell was that?

[Mark Rimelspach · Rating 4 out of 5]

A deep dive into the importance of music in the world by telling a story of it being attacked and saved.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Spirit of Music, by Victor Wooten, is about the importance of music in our lives, told in the form of a parable, with Music (note the capital M) personified in female form and speaking through anyone who cares to make the connection. Victor himself is an important character in the story, though by no means the main one.

The author makes a number of memorable comments about the nature of music and about teaching it. For instance: All instruments sound the same. They are silent. The music comes from the one playing it. Another central theme is that forces in this world (called Phasers in the book) are trying to attack, kill, and destroy Music. There are valid reasons for believing that much of what he says about this is true, though much good music also continues to be made, and new music makers are arriving on the scene every day.

I rated this as I did only because it's kind of lightweight, not because I disagree or found anything objectionable about it. In fact, the whole book is positive and about feel-good emotions.

Music has been an essential part of my own life literally since the day I was born since my father was a skilled professional classical musician, and his work dominated our home. In my own journey, I discovered Bela Fleck and the Flecktones soon after they formed and have been a huge fan of the band always. In fact, two of my brothers formed personal relationships with members of the band, so I feel a special connection to them. (And I have met Howard Levy myself.)

Music will live and grow. What forms it will ultimately take remains to be seen.

[Artemisia Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Virtuoso musician and multiple Grammy winner, Victor Wooten creates a wildly inventive allegorical tale starring a ragtag group of musicians who become superheroes fighting a group of ominous “phasers” who are bent on silencing all Music. As in the title, I use a capital M here because Wooten is describing none other than the Spirit of Music herself who he believes is in danger of being seriously diminished in our modern creation of recorded music which relies more heavily on technology than on the true depth of feeling and immediacy that music should be about. The Spirit of Music takes us inside the creative mind and generous heart of the author as he uses storytelling to warn us about all we stand to lose in our relationship to music and all we can gain by restoring a connection with the Spirit of Music herself. This is an engaging, enlightening and thought provoking take on the importance of music in our lives and how we need to honor its true power and soulfulness before we lose the ability to hear it as the “joyful noise” it was meant to be.

[KennyO · Rating 3 out of 5]

Always a fan of Victor L. Wooten’s playing, I read The Music Lesson, loved it, and I’ve since reread it more than once. After reading it I’d passed it along as gifts it to several friends. Most of them “got it” but one called it too fuzzy-wuzzy and too flower child for him. Now, having read The Spirit of Music, I get about this book what my friend got about the earlier book. I won’t be giving this one as gifts and I’m not sure I’ll reread it or even keep it on my shelf.

Spirit isn’t badly written but I think it’ll struggle to find an appreciative audience. I was an engineer so those expressions that English majors use to analyze and describe books were long ago swatted out of my vocabulary. That’s a wordy way to say that I’m at a loss to describe Spirit. If you’re even slightly interested, by all means, give it a read! I am not interested in discouraging anyone from reading a book they may like more than I do.

[Paxton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Victor Wooten signed and gave this book to me. It sat for a while until I finally decided to read it, and I'm glad I did. The Spirit Of Music by Victor Wooten is one of a kind. It portrays a fictional world where music is trying to be silenced by antagonists called "phasers" and Victor and his friends/family join him on an exhilarating adventure to save music. I would give this book 5 stars but I found that it didn't have much direction and had little context. For example, the "phasers" were never actually explained and I was confused as to how they worked throughout the book. However, I thought victors ability to blend the events in the story was very good. This book had multiple beautiful lessons, not only about music but life as well. All in all, I would rate this book 4/5 stars because it had fantastic lessons, a great storyline, and was blended very well. I would recommend this book to people with interest in music because it deepens your understanding of music on a large scale.

[narwhal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started on audiobook, finished on print. I enjoyed this sequel to Mr. Wooten’s first book. It carries the same spirit of finding the heart and soul of what music is all about, and I would say it shows music as almost a religion or worldview. This book especially focuses on that amorphous ideal of loving all people and things. It’s a creative and fun way to share musical philosophy. I appreciated reminders that you are enough whether people tell you or not, that there’s no use spending time in despair or self-pity when failures not something to shy away from, and that you must play music first before you play an instrument. Most of all, just a good common sense knock in the head that demystifies music— just do it.

I liked the phrase as well ‘try easy.’

[John Chapman · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't write many reviews, but it's good to be warned off a book. This book seems to have a message that one should put one's heart into one's music. There's no real explanation of what is the crisis with "Music" as it is anthropomorphized, and it seems that the lesson is to "just do it", maybe something about overcoming one's fears. The dialog of some of the side characters is stereotyped in ways that are embarrassing. The bad guys are never explained, and it's not clear what they're doing throughout the trumped up struggle. The only reason I finished the book was to get credit toward my annual goal for Goodreads.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really hoping this book would match the insight of the Music Lesson, but sadly this fantasy never really resonated, (that's the kind of pun Victor would appreciate) with me . Even as a musician, I could appreciate the message and a few of his clever wordplays, but it was a struggle to get through the book. The tone was quite naive, the dialogue read like a high school paper and the payoff did not justify the path to reach it.
Anyone who plays music for any length of time understands the hard work, sensitivity, commitment, talent and ability to really listen as prerequisites for the career. I never felt this book gave a clue how to really nurture any of that.

[Bass Cadet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worth the Wait

Since reading his first book, I have been waiting for this follow-up book for years. I had it on my wishlist and when it became available for preorder, placed my order. It's a good story and has quite a few examples of interesting connections between music and life. I intend to have my children read it but not sure if I should have them read the first book before this book. This can almost stand on its own, but there may be some unclear references or messages if starting from this book.

[Becky L Long · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audiobook plus sporadic background music. Unfortunately the compression to "Audiobook" format really kinda destroys the music. This was one of those bogo finds on Audible and it was the add on for the book i wanted. Love when i find a random Audiobook i kinda love out of the blue like that. I totally missed that this was fiction. Didn't take long to figure that out. Also missed that it is a sequel but it's a perfectly fine stand-alone story. Adding "the music lesson" to my wish list. Never heard of the author either but I have since listened to a few of his albums because i liked the book.

[Jesse · Rating 1 out of 5]

As a lover of the previous book, The Music Lesson, I couldn't believe how awful this book was. Whereas the tone of the first was light and mystical, this was more like the dark ravings of a conspiracy theorist.

Even if you want to believe in all of his crazy theories, it's so poorly written that I don't see any value in it. I cannot overemphasize how often he repeats himself in this book. Half the book is characters saying the same thing over and over, and treating tiny things like huge revelations.

Stick with the first book, and give this one a pass.

[Michael]

So about half way through this book, it came to me that, with all the word play, mysterious teachers who do not teach, that this was a Xanth book, and not the non-fiction book that my Library has this cataloged as. I can see the description: "A man from mundania comes to Xanth. Joined by other musicians, they fight the evil Phasers to save the spirit of Music." Although, if this was written by Piers Anthony, all female characters would be described by their bust size and what color underwear they were wearing.

[John Gates · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first it will feel like a repeat, but trust in the Wooten.
This is a very fun and interesting book. I listened to it, which I think is better sometimes and with how well this was arranged, I'm glad I did. There are a lot of rhythmic instances that I assume could easily loose footing, if such parts were accidentally read without mind. The voice acting and narration keep everything flowing.
What a great addition to my musical repertoire.

[Rachelle Ghanem · Rating 5 out of 5]

I mean, come on ! How could Victor Wooten be so brilliant that he understood not only music and life, but what a spiritual journey is at its core.
The mind-blowing process of connecting the dots in this book, the dive into details of what makes us united in spirit, I would assume that only a talented musician is able to deliver this.

You nailed it again <3

[Jay Clement · Rating 2 out of 5]

28-2021. Wooten’s first book was wonderful, and I’ve recommended it to all my musical friends. This one was a little too fanciful and mystical, without the wonder of the first book. I see where he was going with it, but it left me flat.

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and interesting read. I think I would’ve gotten more out of it had I read his first book beforehand, but as a musician I found this to be a bit like a musical Alice in Wonderland — fun and absurd and insightful!

[ConRoy Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the first book and this one fell right inline with it.
Victor is by far one of my favorite bass players and to hear him so intricately talk about music as more than a note or a song really opened my heart, mind, and soul to a new perspective on music.

[Andre · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book came as a recommendation from a musican I follow on Facebook. It by far has been on of my all time reads. Even if your aren't into playing music it will inspire you too and is full of amazing wisdom.

[Herbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh.

The villain is a faceless, nameless, emotionless perpetrator who appears at random.

The characters seem to be transplanted from a 1980s Fat Albert cartoon. Uncle Clyde, the homeless, juke-talkin’ bluesman…

This was a fantastical hot mess. Pass.

[Barry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Victor takes us on another journey with Michael and friends into the spirit and life of Music. Is it a parable? Is it a warning? Is it a call to action? Yep!

[Bob]

Didn’t care for the authors voice or his alarmism about the state of music. Only made it through about 2 chapters and then gave up.

[Ewan Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent journey, difficult to put down.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

" A woman's strength is different than a man's. The sacred gift she carries within can lift the human spirit higher than any man can lift with muscle alone"

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my typical genre. Very thoughtful ideas on teaching, that that could be applied to teaching, coaching, parenting etc. The story line reminded me a bit of Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King

[Derek · Rating 5 out of 5]

A refreshingly unique story. Definitely enjoyed reading this one!

[Nathaniel Flick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book without judgement

Be prepared for a great journey of the soul and don’t question it. Thanks for this book Victor! I’m closer to knowing who I am.