Spontaneous Music
Music as expression, not performance
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 :)
Really, really loved this, Dixie. Especially the part at the end about the fact that amateur or even off-the-cuff, at-whim creations do not negate the need for the truly refined stuff. We need it all! Poems, paintings, melodies, all of it. Big or small. They are something we can enjoy as desired, for the sheer fact we can and they are very human!
I notice that I'm more inclined to sing or hum something on my own if I have mental space, a lag in undistracted time, which lends itself to being more in tune with what the heart is feeling.