So, I had an idea for a blog post, and of course, with my luck, Alex had the same idea and an earlier name alphabetically. Whatever, that's life. So here's my variation on her topic:
Music. It's not just beats and notes and words. It's much more than that to me. Basically, it's a teacher, one of the best I've ever found (no offense to our totally awesome Academy teachers). My orchestra conductor last year said "Music is a combination of sounds and silences." Something about that phrase struck a chord with me (no pun intended) and I only recently figured out what it was. It's that everyone overlooks the silences which can speak volumes about the tone of the piece. I went to the GSO concert tonight and I heard one of the best sets of music they've ever played. One of the songs, I think it was by Wagner, had a completely different feel to it when I mentally eliminated the pianissimo sections (for all the non-musical people, that means very quiet). Anyway, this proves her statement.
For me, music helped me get through difficult times in my life and changed the way I think. Literally, I count in music divisions when I'm trying to keep track of something. If you know me well, you are aware that I often have an iPod in my ear and I'm constantly making people listen to new songs in an attempt to inspire expansion in their personal taste. I have something like 2600 songs on my iPod, which is quite a lot. It is probably the single most important thing to me, now more than ever, because of the stress I feel about school. I get comfort from knowing that something familiar waits for me at 3:15 everyday.
On a different note, silence is something that I think is overlooked. Seems strange coming from me, I know, because I talk so much. But I really do think that we seriously need help in this area. A British author Walter Bagehot said, "An inability to stay quiet is one of the conspicuous failings of mankind." (And no, I didn't just know that. It's in my speech for speech team!) This is truly a problem! In my opinion, people just babbling on about anything makes the important conversations lose importance. It's very rare that I find someone I can really talk to, and lack of silence is a reason for that. Silence doesn't always have to be filled! We have gotten so used to everyone shouting their message to the world that we do not have the finely attuned hearing to pick up on the quieter, yet not less-deserving, voices.
To wrap it up, my topic is two-fold. How does music influence your lives, if at all? What aspects of it do you enjoy, what don't you enjoy? What types do you associate yourself with, and are there any particular musicians you admire? Do you play any instruments? Also, what do you think about the possibility of silence being determinant in a piece of music? Do you agree or not? How do you think a lack of silence has changed the way people communicate?
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8 comments:
wow anna! Both you and Alex have showed me a totally different side of music. It sounds like thats how you guys really express yourself. Unfortunately, Im not really a musical person. I've always enjoyed it, but have never found that 'escape' that some people find when they listen to or play. Not to say that I don't enjoy it, just saying its more of a relaxtion tool to me. I really like what you said about the silence in music. I'm not sure if it is just me, but you hardly ever hear silence in music today. I think that this compares greatly to our society today. So much noice and so little silence.
Our old english teacher had this poster that said "listen is made up of the same letters as silent." Today we sure have alot of leaders and not many followers. To get anywhere we need the right amount of both. Some speak some listen. Not saying that only some peoples opinion is heard, but that everyone works together so people speak when they are supposed and listen when others talk. But in short, yes. Listening/silence is key in any type communication whether it be between people, in music, in nature, etc..
Like in alex's post...I'm in choir. One of the pieces we heard, from Masters at the concert, was the piece called say la (phonetic spelling). The only word in it was "say la". It was a combination of the word and SILENCE. It was spectacular! The way silence was intertwined with something that normally has sound was amazing!
Music is everything to me. Whether you can sing, play piano, strum the guitar or even just hum... its amazing. The music I seem to listen to is usually something that involves some sort of talent...so rap is out of the question. I do like the occasional Kanye West song, but rap is really talentless. Anyone can talk really fast to a beat, I'm sure any girl could do it! So, and music that has talent in the form of singing or instrument playing is what I like.
I can't really pick one musician I love, so I have to say that all of my friends who sing or write songs inspire me. My best friend and I LOVE to write songs. We write about everyone and anything, so watch out...jkjk. She inspires me to continue singing and writing even if there is a small chance I will ever make it big. She reminds me that music helps me let go, and that letting go is good every once and a while.
about silence:
there is a reason we have two ears and one mouth
but im sure we've all heard that one before.
yeah, i know all about silence. sometimes i get into this mood where i just sit and listen to everyone talk. i just don't feel like being involved, and it's really interesting to actually listen for once...
going on music in general, it rocks! where else do you get to speak italian?
Kathryn- perhaps Italy? ;)
Haha, ironically, I hate it when people say how much they appreciate the silences. We don't really work as hard for the silences- it's the SOUNDS that an ensemble has to work for (unless you have rest counting issues; then that's your problem).
Although, admittedly, my favorite part of a concert is right before you start your first piece, and everyone's staring at the director with bated breath. Then everyone takes a breath together and the entertainment begins. I know this only applies to band and choir, but that half-second of concentration always has impacted me.
Music has influenced my lives more than I can possibly detail. I don't know if I've said this before, but my dad, my middle sister and I (sometimes my mom and other family members) travel a loooot- I've been to 30 countries. We play free piano concerts for whatever charity or anything needs us. Besides just being awesome, music has certainly made me a more interesting person, haha.
haha. yeah, music is a HUGE deal to me. and in case anyone didn't know this, i play violin. and attempt piano (it's an epic fail!) kathryn, the same thing applies to me! i sometimes find it amazing informative to observe how people react to each other. it gives me insights into their personalities that i couldn't have gained if i were talking just as loudly as they were. and mary, i write songs too! (again, an epic fail!) mostly they start as poetry. but a few have gone beyond that into something bigger, and those are the ones i wrote in times when i had a strong emotion on my side. that's when the true creative magic happens for me!
Has anyone seen August Rush? Well, it's one of my favorite movies. I was truly moved by the scene when August meets his dad (but he doesn't know it's his dad) and they just start playing their guitars together. It creates a melody that is just beautiful and it provokes all sorts of emotions and memories. One of my favorite quotes from that movie is, "Music is all around you. All you have to do is listen". I enjoy the expression aspect of music. I can express emotion and feeling when I write music, and I can feel emotion when I listen to other people's music. I am mainly a fan of alternative music, but really I listen to a wide variety. I like to listen to Jack Johnson and John Mayer, but there are so many I just picked two off the top of my head. Some truly inspirational people that I listen to are The Beatles, Josh Groban, and Coldplay. I sing, play the piano, guitar, and I used to play the violin when I was four but haven't picked it up since! I think silence in a musical piece gives one time to imagine what the silence in that piece represents.
i know what you mean. I recently switched to jazz piano, from classical, and my instructer said something along the lines of: "when you improvise, don't think you always have to play. Leave a few measures here or there quiet, to emphesize what you DO play." just some justification for why sometimes its better to shut up. :D
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