Monthly Affirmation

may I be I is the only prayer - not may I be great or good or beautiful or wise or strong. ~e.e. cummings

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Music

We are all different, aren't we? Rhetorical question I know. But there is a quote I have heard some time ago - "music is what feelings sound like." I came to realize that, well that even though everyone listens to music not everyone experiences music in the same way.

I had the luxury of attending two concerts this week at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. One was Gary Allan (whom I have never listened to in my life that I know of) and the other was the Black Eyed Peas. I had zero expectations for both. Might surprise some of you with the fact that I can sing pretty much most of the B.E.P. songs but I have not really attended concerts since either 2001 or 2002 in Maui. I have been to musical performances but not concerts. I cannot understand singers in a live performance. I know that they are singing as there is a noise there but for the better part unless I know the song intimately I think that it is more like white noise except for a line here or there.

But both concerts were enjoyed by me and that is when I realized I truly do perceive music differently to others. I think the wording is less than important to me as is the music itself. The percussion tempos, the guitar riffs, the keys of a piano or keyboard being manipulated, the sounds of a cello reverberate through me like not many other instruments.

That is it ... I feel the music. I think that is why I like Stomp's performance so much as it is a visual remark on the music in the world around us. That was also the factor in the movie August Rush that caught me.


There are many other songs in this movie but if you have watched the whole movie this is a culmination of ever single emotion that the main characters have gone through, every single feeling and it is the power of the music, the percussion, the stings, the reeds, the brass, the unique odds and end that an orchestra has in them. In the beginning of the film after the introduction aspect of the film August is in a field and he is feeling the music of the world. That is the music that I feel.

The concerts reminded me that I have to listen to me ... what my body feels. There was a cut through scene that the rodeo was using to introduce the next batch of riders and there was a musical underscore to it. Possibly described as just just sounds. But I felt that, I could not tell you what the announcer was saying ... like my comment about concerts ... I know there was words being said but they were nothing next to the music. My chest and core was alive with the vibrations of the music.

Gary Allan's performance had some songs with percussion and this incredible guitarist and those moments in the concert were those tones tore through my body and were what made that a truly unique experience. I still cannot tell you much about his music except that Tammy called it country with some rock. (example of something she wanted him to play but he did not below) Probably a good description. The B.E.P. concert was, even though I had no expectation, good. I know most of the songs so I could carry along with what was potentially being said but once again the vocals disappear into a sea of tones and feelings.

Maybe I am crazy but I feel music. I sense it in my core, notes can instantly trigger joy and tears and this is possibly why I have such a range of musical tastes as it is the music that appeals to me.

To me it is interesting to learn about others as it is myself and discovering that there are multiple sides to every part of me and you. It is only in exploring and listening to ourselves, learning who we are that we can appreciate our perspective on a subject and those in our lives we care about.


(just for reference on whom the artists are that I mentioned)





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"The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly." – Buddha