I have a great friend whose name sounds a little like Gandalf and so from here on I will refer to him as, The Wizard. The Wizard is a dear and magical friend, who has taught me many things over the years. One of these is how to listen into the space between words. It turns out, that from a wizard’s perspective this is the very same space between an in-breath and an out-breath, or the window just between our waking and dreaming state as our head hits the pillow. These days, whenever I hear the tannoy on the tube say, 'Mind the gap,' it always makes me smile because since having a wizard as a friend keeping my mind on the gap has become a bit of a daily habit.
Now, I'm no musician but the wizard did show me that this same principle can be applied to music. So you'll have to forgive my very potted, half-baked attempt to describe it now. The Wizard explained that counter-point in a composition offers the listener a musical phrase which is then layered with one that seems to harmonically counter the first. This is then overlaid with another phrase that counters the previous and so forth. This causes you to eventually let go of the phrase you first heard, no matter how beautiful it may sound, to be fully led by the next and then the next. It creates a sound that pulls the heartstrings in an ever expanding direction. He went on to explain that as you let go of each musical phrase, your attention falls into the space between the music and it's there that you meet the creative idea of the composer, in the space between the notes. This Wizard's perspective, however wizard-like is very beautiful. That the creative idea exists in the space between the musical phrases and that the composer may be knowingly leading us there is a mind and heart expanding possibility. I'll be dropping an example into this news bite so we can sit back and test out The Wizard's hypothesis for ourselves
There was definitely a cello in that piece and on the subject of cellos, I found a lovely quote by cellist, Becky McGlade describing this instrument, “Its ambit encompasses the whole vocal range, from bass to soprano.. Its sound can be earthy, gritty, soulful, or joyful; able to convey the deepest emotion just like the human voice.”*
Now, I'm no meditator and I am not very good at sitting still but I have found, just like the space between the music, briefly putting my attention on the natural pause that occurs at the very top of an in-breath and on the space that opens at the end of an exhalation is a simple way to reconnect body, mind and breath. You can even use your imagination to intend your attention right into and through that natural pause that presents between every in-breath and every out-breath. When I do this, even for a couple of minutes I come away with much less attention on my personal narrative and a lot more space and stillness.
Now, might be a good moment to create some space for ourselves right here on my Substack. A slightly different approach this time. I've done a quick sketch below to represent the void.
Here you can drop anything you would rather not carry around with you today. I will be leaving my, things I haven't done yet and may never do list. As I dive for the keys to write this post, I am reminded that one of the things I haven't done yet and may never do, is learn to touch type. So have a think and throw anything into the void yourself that you could do without, even if just for today.
As this post has a focus on music along with a little Beethoven I'm opening up a roots and beets section..
Here, I’ll be leaving some links of music and research into sound that I've been enjoying listening to. The first, is by soulful singer Celeste and her track, There Will Come a Day -
The second, is a sound composition I came across by, Helen Anahita Wilson*, a composer who turns bio-data into sound. After being diagnosed with breast cancer she focused her attention on composing plant-derived music using the bio-data from the plants used in chemotherapy to create soundscapes for healing.
Do feel free to share any of your favourite tunes you're currently listening to in the comments section below.
I'll leave you now with this week's quote by Maria Von Trapp,
“Music acts like a magic key, to which the most tightly closed heart opens”.
Thank you for tuning in to Stories with Ink and a special thanks to Tasha, Eliza and Jonathan whose words from my recent word shuffle all featured in today's news bite. Keep your eyes on your inbox for your next medley of ordinary and extraordinary reflections on life,
For those who would prefer the audio version of this post just click play on the audio link below and don’t forget to scroll down for references of interest in the shrimp notes.
1- https://blog.oup.com/2024/01/cello-and-the-human-voice-a-natural-pairing/
2- https://www.helenanahitawilson.com/about-3#/research/
So love this post. Been noticing the pause points in the tides of my breath since first reading ~ thank you for this presence tip. And quoting my original herione Maria Von Trapp wins my heart ~ with bells on :D !
What wizardry!