Connecting with music in Switzerland.

A few weeks ago I spent a week in Switzerland on a business trip.  One evening during the middle of the week the group I was with were driving back in the dark through the Jura mountains after a day of training and discussion, returning to our hotel.

As is inevitable with me after the chat died down and people started to doze off I pulled out my ipod and headphones and plugged myself in.  It was peaceful to gaze out of the window at the tops of mountains shrouded in darkness and then to whizz through brightly lit tunnels that bore through the sides of vast rock faces.  All the while music played through my head as a soundtrack to the journey.

One other person was awake and looking around at the same time and I tapped our translator on the shoulder and asked if she wanted to listen to what I had playing.  Soon we were scrolling through my ipod and her phone, sharing music recommendations and the music that has shaped and moved us.  There was some crossover in styles and artists, but there was also a lot neither of us had heard as well.

I loved her reaction when I played her a song she had never heard before and which I loved and I could see how she reacted in a similar way as the first time I heard it.  Soon she was making a list of artists/bands she must explore further and it grew as each song passed.

She also played me some music I have never heard before, mainly some great French jazz musicians and I can now go off and explore them further too.

There is something magical about bonding with someone via music.  It is such an intimate, personal connection.  Especially when the music is being played through headphones and no-one else around you knows what is moving or inspiring you so much.  I cherish that moment when you suggest something you both already know and you can say ‘I love that song too’ and then you can bond over a shared feeling you have had when listening to it. I also love it when you hear/play something new and you can share something that may have been a part of your life for many, many years.

Before we knew it we were arriving back at the hotel and not only had the journey passed quickly and pleasurably, I had also developed a friendship with someone over the music we had shared.  For the rest of the week the translator and I talked about a vast range of subjects and grew closer over our shared interests and a great deal of it stemmed from the music we shared that evening travelling through the mountains of Switzerland.  The perfect end result that comes from both travel and music, which is why I love both so much.

A misty morning in the Jura mountains.