Filtered Life
I have so many song lyrics that could describe right now. Problem is, you wouldn’t hear the music that goes with them, that supports them, that gives them the poetic shape that words to music have. It’s like this song I wrote, you read it and it sounds like bad poetry, but you put it to music and it sounds like … bad song writing. No, just kidding, I like that song a lot and you definitely notice an intangible asset that music supplies to poetic phrases. That’s what I have been picking out in every song I have listened to. I think the way we experience music is filtered through our current feelings, our current thoughts, our recent actions. Music filters and channels life. That’s why hi-fi is important; who wants their life filtered through crap equipment? No, I’m kidding, the beauty is the equipment doesn’t matter too much; but it can lessen the distraction of music reproduction and help us skip to the soul-refinement we all seek (in one way or another) through listening to music.
In direct contrast, when I am in the jazz comp mood, I am not filtering as much of my life through what I am hearing. I am listening to chord changes, looking for 2/5/1’s, meter, dynamics, melodic interpretation, and improvisation. Am I still filtering my life? I think so, but I’m filtering in a different way by gaining music experience. It is an abstract idea, but it works in a nebulous sort of way. That brings me to my point. I noticed rock songs/power chord driving are of the form of 4 sets of 8 of the same note. It has been, of course, done before, but I was at LifeTime singing to myself and I discovered that instead of 8/8/8/8, 7/9/7/9 adds a really cool offbeat but returns in four four time to the root of the music. That’s a hot trick! I highly recommend it if you are in a rock band looking to spice up your musical ideas. Every little bit helps. Perhaps I’ll return to this post and brush up the terminology by adding what those notes in a rock progression would actually be, or perhaps I’ll leave it.
I’m in a really good mood so details like that aren’t important now. Other details are. For example, the detail that the lawn isn’t mowed yet. Off to tackle detailing!