When I was a little girl, I used to lay on the floor next to my sister's piano as she played. I loved to hear the way she gently caressed the higher notes. They sounded like twinkling wind chimes to my ears. I could also feel the vibration in my back as I leaned up against the sturdy upright piano. In those days, she played classical music and could breathe peace into our home like a summer breeze. When she was playing, everything else paused. No one talked, no one yelled. Everyone just listened.
The beauty of music is that it stirs something in our soul that we didn't know was actually there. We bury it, try our best to forget it, maybe don't even realize it... but our soul knows and music brings it out. I think you can tell a lot about a person by the music they listen to. How they handle things in their mind. What they need, what they're searching for. As we know, music is poetry, blended with notes that flow into a melody that we're either drawn to, or not.
Long ago, I had to take a music appreciation class in college. At first, I couldn't believe what a waste of time this class was going to be. We had to go home with a bag of tapes (yes, tapes) and listen to all these different types of composers and musicians of all genre's and then write something about them after we listened to each one of them. The next class, our professor would quiz us to see if we actually listened to all that nonsense. I was intimidated by this professor because of the way he explained music. He used words I've never heard of. It was uncomfortable at first. The entire experience got me thinking about what I didn't really know about the world of music and how much more I could learn if I just listened like I did when I was little on the floor in our old farm house next to that piano. So I did.
I listened to melodies and harmonies. I listened to the many ways a musician could blend instruments and sounds that made something truly unique and then noticed how much main stream music is repetitive because our brains love patterns... it's like candy. And then I learned how hard it is for someone like me to do that. Have you ever picked up an instrument and played around with one? I did not receive the same talent my sister has. I may be able to sing a little, but let me tell ya, throw an instrument in there to command and I am completely at a loss. And yes, listening to music eases my mind, it fires my brain on all cylinders. It allows me to feel fully; however I want to feel. Which brings me to the importance of exposure...
If the only children that get exposed to all the different types of music are affluent and in private schools, how can our children fully learn to their highest potential? We have two halves of our brain - the logically one, and the creative one. If we do not nourish BOTH sides, our brain is not working at it's fullest potential. It kills me that school districts cut music and art programs first- they are the balance needed so children can learn math, science, and reading... all of which are totally unnatural skills to a human. Singing, on the other hand, is natural... It is a part of us and who we are as beings. We create sound and beauty when we are able to. Bringing music into your life is one of the ways we let JOY in. It is also a way to heal hurts, find hope, and move forward.
As for me, I will continue to listen to the beauty of piano.... the gift of a melody that can literally bring me to tears... I don't necessarily know why, but it's as if my heart just overflows with how beautiful it sounds. The sound that wraps around my body and holds me in this vibration of love... that's what harmony is, right? We all need music. Whether if be rock, country, gospel, jazz, classical, reggae, dance, or piano, give yourself the gift of music - it's very accessible nowadays. Lately, my musical choices revolve around the rhythm of each of my horses. Keep the glow in your soul bright and shining with harmonies and melodies that you enjoy. Love & Light
Hozzászólások