So been working on a few things lately. Couple of original pieces, a few classical ones; my friend also asked me to compose some background music for a slide show of scenic images and video footage which will be something different for a change too. I think as a musician you need to have your main style/approach to things - Something that your unique in and that you've mastered, but also have the ability to play and use other techniques too. It's like my school teachers used to tell me about life - 'try to achieve everything in something and something in everything'. I reckon the same could apply to your musical instrument. Try to really master one style and still be able to play the rest of them adequately. Although I am still wondering which style I would end up choosing. Any suggestions?
You know I've always kind of wondered what music really is. I often hear people explain that it is just 'notes on a page' - and although that is not untrue, there is definitely more to it (well in my opinion anyway). To me, the notes on a page are like a language. A language just the same as what you would find in the books of Shakespeare but musicians just have a different way of expressing it. I assimilate the notes on the page to the words on the page of a book. And instead of using speech to communicate the language, we use the various frequencies of sound that our respective instruments create. And just as the words in a book convey a meaning/message, so too do the notes on a page generate meaning when played. A lot of music cannot be expressed in words (except pop songs of course) as it is a language in another realm. Yet it is so universal, that two people from two completely different countries could hum a tune together and 'speak' to each other through the mystery of music. I'm sure you might have experienced a time where only a song could explain your feelings or your pain and again I think it reveals how music has a sort of transcendent nature to it - something beyond our sound understanding. Well I think it's quite interesting but maybe that's just me.
See ya next week
Jesse Liang
www.jesseguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/user/JesseGuitar07
