There are only seven of them; plus their respective flats, sharps, and octaves...and from so few, can come such abundance. In many ways we can say more through the notes than we can through speech. In fact, we convey more through the notes than we could ever express in spoken or written forms of language--the notes transcend our skill with words. The notes can transport us to another era, or to a moment in our past. They can inspire us beyond the lesser levels we accept in our verbal world. They will raise bumps of ecstasy on our flesh, or shiver us with an icy refrain. They bring forth our other senses; our hidden senses. And we might recall a fragrance, a taste, a pain felt, a sensuous caress. The notes may be so beautiful, that we will weep with the hearing of them. There is a pulse to the notes; a meter to each trill; a cadence to each sonorous phrase. And, the notes can embolden us...to dance. And there are so many more vehicles for the notes than there are for mere words. So many things to make the music on...to create the notes with. I wonder how we humans attained the knowledge of music, of the notes? I imagine we probably communicated through music even when our language skills were at the primal level; when our utterances were little more than grunts and base articulations. Maybe the notes were a gift...of magic. Or perhaps we just borrowed them from the birds. copyright 2000 by Kathy Pippig Harris |
