I am taking a group beginning piano class, with the first priority being an excuse to see my good college friend; the piano comes second. The class is a hoot, with frequent snack breaks and chatty cathys. Nevertheless, we always get to the piano part. As the students attentively listen to each other perform our pieces, I get to thinking.
We learn about notation as the grammar of music, everything that makes and creates a coherent piece of music. The accidentals, pauses, time scale, chords, all contribute to something that would sound like a well-formulated, educated...sentence? Indeed it is true, as a faulty note makes you cringe just as a conjugation error might. A wrong chord makes you as unsure as a misused word. Pauses make for a dramatic effect; the speed and strength of playing also add drama, just as they would in speech. And then there's the spaces between notes, as important as the spacebar on your keyboard.
One question from a fellow student got me thinking about what's in a space. "Why do they even divide the notes like that?" Our teacher Ms. Rodriguez responds, "Spaces, Kathy, it's all about spaces!"
About a year ago, I was writing a paper on a few poems and I was heading in the direction of describing how black ink makes words on a page, but the contrasting white paper defines it. Without the contrast we couldn't understand a thing. As annoyingly metapoetic as this is, I see the white page now as SPACE. Just as the space within the lines of a measure in music. Without those spaces, we don't have music- no harmony or melody or symphony or song.
Yet very often we disregard those white spaces- the simple tap of the space bar, the simple break in a line, the simple indent on a page. And yet, they are the structure, the foundation, and the creation of music and literature alike.
Certainly psychedelic is the idea of space, just as it is in our daily lives. To ask for some space or time alone sounds antisocial, odd, and kind of offensive. Yet, really, how are we to live without just a little bit of space to be an individual note on the measure, word on the page, and individual in this grand world? The grammar of music has shown me how to be an individual, and also a member of a chord. Both versions (individual or member) have unique attributes; either one depends on the time and place.
I guess all I'm really saying is that we all need some space to make ourselves individuals, but it doesn't hurt having someone else close by.
We learn about notation as the grammar of music, everything that makes and creates a coherent piece of music. The accidentals, pauses, time scale, chords, all contribute to something that would sound like a well-formulated, educated...sentence? Indeed it is true, as a faulty note makes you cringe just as a conjugation error might. A wrong chord makes you as unsure as a misused word. Pauses make for a dramatic effect; the speed and strength of playing also add drama, just as they would in speech. And then there's the spaces between notes, as important as the spacebar on your keyboard.
One question from a fellow student got me thinking about what's in a space. "Why do they even divide the notes like that?" Our teacher Ms. Rodriguez responds, "Spaces, Kathy, it's all about spaces!"
About a year ago, I was writing a paper on a few poems and I was heading in the direction of describing how black ink makes words on a page, but the contrasting white paper defines it. Without the contrast we couldn't understand a thing. As annoyingly metapoetic as this is, I see the white page now as SPACE. Just as the space within the lines of a measure in music. Without those spaces, we don't have music- no harmony or melody or symphony or song.
Yet very often we disregard those white spaces- the simple tap of the space bar, the simple break in a line, the simple indent on a page. And yet, they are the structure, the foundation, and the creation of music and literature alike.
Certainly psychedelic is the idea of space, just as it is in our daily lives. To ask for some space or time alone sounds antisocial, odd, and kind of offensive. Yet, really, how are we to live without just a little bit of space to be an individual note on the measure, word on the page, and individual in this grand world? The grammar of music has shown me how to be an individual, and also a member of a chord. Both versions (individual or member) have unique attributes; either one depends on the time and place.
I guess all I'm really saying is that we all need some space to make ourselves individuals, but it doesn't hurt having someone else close by.
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