Minding the Silence

It's so easy to miss those tiny notations of silence sometimes. Afterall, aren't the notes the most important things to pay attention to?

Rests are so.... slight... so abstract. These squiggles, dashes and numbers that dictate silence in a score demanding that we delay sound for less than a blink or sometimes much much more.

You learn to anticipate well

You learn to anticipate well and perhaps learn how to make the notes meaningful. What? You don't only have to work on mastering notes but you have to master the silence that punctuates the sound too?

Yes.

Else you step into a space not meant for you... else you ring out a note into a space that makes the harmony muddled and create dissonance... else you step into the void and find that everyone will be joining you in 4 more bars and you get to embarrass yourself.

What's the point of trading solos if you can't mind your silence? How moving can the music be can be if we "played" the rests well?

Some thoughts to play with.

JNET
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The Art of Listening

JNET: "Listen for your mistakes. You're to see if you can find them first and fix them before I must point them out to you."

XYZ: "Why don't you just stop me right away if I make a mistake?"

JNET: "I think it is a slower way to learn; to stop at every single mistake."

If we were to stop at every single mistake then I wouldn't be able to point at a pattern of mistakes. And yet it happens, my student will play a sequence of notes and then hit a screaming halt where we listen in silence; their big eyes staring at me for direction and validation.

JNET: "You know how to read music. Read the note."

Sometimes the students stares further, begging for a quick answer. The gap of silence grows and I sit with it. I don't care. Thinking shouldn't have to be something awkward to be avoided. I invite my student to think. I have to get literal on them. Tell them to look at the paper and think. I also raise a paper to cover my face.

XYZ: "Just tell me!"

JNET: "That would be too easy. You know how to get to the answer and you want me to support you to be lazy. Come now. You are not a lazy person. Are you? Anyway, stop staring at me for the answer. Are there notes on my face?"

It takes a lot of patience to listen to mistakes. Teaching a student to be patient with their own self so that they can anticipate where their mistakes comes from is a lesson on self-awareness that a 6 year old can grasp yet a 16 year old may stumble over.

XYZ: "Wait... wait... don't tell me. I got it under control."

JNET: "Sure you don't want me to point to the notes for you."

XYZ: "No pointing! I can handle this."

Sweet words from a mindful student. If you can listen to yourself and modify mistakes. If you can think for yourself and master a new piece, what in life can stop you for expressing something beautiful and on purpose?

There more to music lessons than notes.

JNET