What do you hear when you listen to a piece of music? What is the first thing that pops into your mind?
A few minutes ago I listened to about 20 seconds of a new song, and was quite surprised at my response. Of course, as usual, I follow the melody along the staff, painting the notes on my mind as it develops. And then suddenly I found myself drifting to a person, and recalling my last interaction with her? Also recalling many previous interactions through the years. I know many creative people see colours when they hear notes — a full symphony must be like watching the aurora borealis, or a psychedelic painting! I don’t have that gift, and really don’t desire it.
For me, music brings back memories. These memories might have absolutely nothing to do with the music that I am hearing, yet the music seems trigger a memory response in me. A lot can happen in mind even during the 20 seconds of the excerpt. I was taken back to the days when I used to perform with this person. We did concerts all over, and seemed to have great fun doing it. I proceeded to recall some tension, mistrust and growing apart. The question of a future relationship with this person, and wondering how that would unfold during the next months and years.
What do you hear when you listen to a piece of music? What do you see? What do you think about? What do you understand? I am convinced that everyone hears, sees, recalls and understands something different even if listening to the same composition. It’s much like how we all understand a conversation in different ways. We come from a variety of cultural backgrounds, training and natural talents, therefore seeing and understanding the same ideas in the same way would really be impossible and unlikely.
In 2018, a research team of anthropologists, psychologists, biologists, musicians and linguists from top universities around the globe confirmed through computational data that “music is the universal language of mankind.”
Erica Chayes Wida, today.com December 4, 2020
Harvard professor and poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is credited with saying “music is the universal language of mankind” over 200 years ago. The article is about how music connects us, and has been a source of healing over the centuries. Music does connect us in many ways, and is a language all of its own. But, I also understand that even though we may be connected through music, at the same time we are interpreting the language according to our own background and understanding.
May we continue to listen, not only to the individual notes, and through our own minds but be open to where listening takes us. For me, that 20 seconds of a new song took me to a place of sadness and longing for a renewed relationship.
Reflections 