Music isn't just sound and
silence in time because sound isn't just sound and silence isn't just
silence. First, sound has a source. The source might be animal,
vegetable or mineral. If the source is animal, it might be human or
non-human. Whether human or non-human, the source may have intention,
which determines the kind and quality of the sound. By the way, all
sound and all silence fall within the scope of the broadest definition
of music. Some would argue otherwise. Oh, well. So, if we have a
non-human sound, like say, a whale, then we also have intention. The
whale might be sending a signal to his mate across several miles of
ocean. In that case the sound will have a definite character, volume
and flavor. If for some reason, for instance, the whale is in distress,
this would change the character, flavor and possibly the volume of the
sound. All of these factors become part of the sound itself. Taken
separately, as in, isolating the sound from the source and ignoring the
possible motives for the sound, gives us a significantly less
interesting piece of music, for one thing, but it also takes away a
great deal of our ability to enjoy it. Half the fun of a piece of music
is knowing things about it.
For instance, I remember when I was
about 7 years old and our teacher took us to a little patch of trees out
beyond the school house. There were many birds in the trees and they
were singing noisily all around us. Our teacher then pointed out that
not all the sounds were the same. She said that besides having
different 'songs', the birds had different signals for different
occasions. One of the occasions, she said, was danger. She then made a
strange sound with her hand on her mouth and explained that when
certain kinds of birds are in danger they make a sound something like
that. I was fascinated and after she showed us the secret to making the
sound, we all began making the sounds of distressed birds. It was
great. I thought I had been let in on a great thing and that I could
now 'talk' to and understand birds. Really, I had been let in on
something even bigger than that. I had been given my first lesson in
talking to and understanding life.
Life is music is sound is
silence is everything. We cannot separate ourselves from it. Music is
everywhere. Life is everywhere. The key is to listen. What I learned
from the birds that day was that the music of the birds wasn't just
singing, it was living. Their 'music' changed when they were in
trouble. Everyone's music changes when he is in trouble or in love or
happy or sad or anything. Everything changes your music, drives your
music and helps you create your music. Every day each person is
creating the music of his life with words, thoughts, intentions,
actions, interactions and their opposites. Nothing is outside of the
realms of living music. The great awakening comes when one realizes
that the baton, so to speak is in his hand. The music of life can be
directed through the intention of a living soul. So instead of being
merely a singer in the symphony of life, one can become the conductor,
composer and orchestrator. One can determine the kind, quality and
volume of the music he will produce when he realizes his potential for
music, and life. Life wasn't meant to be a series of victimizations but
a growing field of beauty and happiness. When one takes charge of his
music it is as though he learned where the seed box was kept and was
given an open field in which to plant whatever seeds he wanted, whether
for beauty, nourishment or just for the fun of it. When a field is
allowed to grow by itself without cultivation, it becomes a dull and
lifeless grassy place with plenty of noxious weeds. When cultivated it
can become a garden of Eden where there are all manner of fruits and
flowers to enjoy. Music; life; These are the fields.
Like trees, water, and life, music has an eternal quality that resonates with the eternal qualities within ourselves. This is a constant; a matter of course.