Dear Friends,
There’s really something elemental about music as an expression of emotion.
Recently, I’ve been thinking about the different ways that human beings use music not only socially, but also individually. I’m particularly interested in the concept of music being something that belongs to everyone, not just those who perform or those who are especially skilled or talented. (I wrote about this as regards folk music here last year.)
One way that this is apparent is through what I call spontaneous music, music that wells up in our hearts as a response to strong emotion—music that we make ourselves, even if we are not trained musicians. While not everyone experiences this urge to sing or hum or drum or otherwise make sudden music, a great many of us do; and yet we often feel shy about allowing ourselves to express and manage our feelings in this way. Why? Because, well, we may not be the best performers, and when we make noise, there’s always the chance that someone will hear us.
But maybe we’re thinking about this the wrong way.
As someone who studies, teaches, writes, and performs music but who now spends much more time making spontaneous music for her toddler than doing any other sort of music-making, I absolutely agree with this.
Personally, I would also rather hear a real human singing something spontaneous than most music on the radio. I love your story of your child’s birth because not only was he so lucky to be born into a world of immediate song, but everyone in the room was blessed and touched in that moment as well. We crave this!!
Another hidden benefit is that the more you create music like this, the better at music in general you become :)
I used to sing spontaneously a lot more, but as an adult I don’t sing as much. But recently, I’ve been trying to more, as it was bright to my attention what a wonderful way it is to express emotion!
I also find it fascinating and lovely how my third daughter (Cecilia :) sings to herself a lot. It’s so sweet.