One of the theories about why humans value music is the idea that music connects us. Even when language might be a barrier, we can feel connected through playing or listening to music. The book I’ve been reading (and listening to – I sprang for the audiobook) is Elena Mannes’ “The Power of Music” (subtitled: “Pioneering Discoveries in the New Science of Song.”) One of the quotes I highlighted was this:
“I can sit down and listen to the music made by Inuit Eskimos or Amazonians, and to an extent, I can engage with that music. I can enjoy it. I can understand it. I can feel the same emotions they do. I can enter into their musical world. And yet, if I listen to them speak, I have no idea what they’re speaking about.”
This reminded me of an experience I had years ago when I
was in my early 20s. I was visiting friends who had guests from Germany that
they had met while hiking in Germany the summer before. I can’t recall the
names of the couple, but the woman was better at understanding English, and
would often stop and translate some English to German for her male partner. My friend, Debbie,
had requested that I sing my newest song which at the time was Blues of it All (which
I later recorded on my first album). I played my song, and both of the German
friends had tears in their eyes. Debbie asked if they could understand the song,
and the woman said, “not every word, but I understood the feeling.” As he
held a fist to his heart, the man said “Yes, I feel.”
That was the most powerful experience I had up to that point
in my early music career, with the power of music to connect at an emotional
level – not just the intellectual level of understanding the meaning of words or admiring the clever melodic and harmonic content but to have someone really feel what was being communicated.
If you’d like to hear that song, here is the Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/track/4MFMuSiTRypU5K8ljsToVF?si=ddd1a1db9d2c4d49
This shaped how I’ve always approached my songwriting, as
well as my performances – the connection is what it’s about for me. Connection,
not Perfection – my mantra!
This even extends to my teaching approach. I’m not as interested in “imparting knowledge” as I am in enabling my students to do what it is they want to do in music. We of course should devote time to learning the technical aspects of music in order to be able to use those tools for creative expression. Helping a student build a deeper understanding of music so that they can play expressively, confidently, and with emotional depth is, to me, more of a measure of success than if they can mechanically play each note and rhythm accurately and precisely.
This is not to discount “getting it
right," but correct with no emotional connection is often described as "mechanical" or "robotic." And for most people, that sterile performance is not going
to touch hearts and make a difference in their lives…
Speaking of teaching… I’ll be presenting two workshops on
improvisation in March, which are both open to all instruments (including
voice), as well as one on Singing with the Harp. All three workshops will be great for
exploring how to make this emotional connection through music. But in particular,
the Intention in Improvisation workshop will cover some of the physiological basis
for the emotional impact of music. Here are links to each of these for more
information and how to register:
Improving the Improv (3/4/2023 10 am – 12 pm pacific time)
https://tinyurl.com/ImprovingTheImprov
Intention in Improvisation 3/4/2023
1 – 3 pm pacific time
https://tinyurl.com/IntentionInImprovisation
Singing
with the Harp 3/11/2023 10 am – 12 pm pacific time
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