High Sierra Topix

You know the problem. You are hiking along the trail, happy in your pace, and bit by bit you mind starts to wander...and the next thing you know, you are humming a little tune. In most cases, it's not a tune you would normally choose, and there are people who go to great measures to get rid of these so-called earworms.

As a musician, I have a different approach. I embrace the idea, but I get to pick the tune. If I find myself humming along, I often select the appropriate music for the trail. Sometimes I choose a piece of music that I am practicing, because that really helps me explore the different ways to play certain passages. I take control of the earworm.

Other time times, I simply pick a great piece of music that seems to catch my mood and the terrain, and hum along happily.

So in the holiday spirit, I'd like to share favorite earworm from Handel's wonderful Messiah. And as you are struggling up a steep trail, or down in into deep canyon in the wilderness, this is just the music you need to keep going. The lyrics?

"Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill made low, the crooked straight, and the rough places plain."

Hallelujah!

The worst bit is how long these tunes stay in your head. Before this year I never took any sort of MP3 player with me in the back country which meant months with no music at all. If anyone would sing a song or you hear something while out resupplying that tune would then be stuck in my head for the next month.