A Little Philosophy

We had a nice Thanksgiving and wonderfully delicious dinner and time with family. In the meantime, I've picked up my music therapy books again. I'm getting materials ready just in case I get that interview and in addition to playing and practicing, I'm trying to keep my mind sharp. So I picked up this book.

"The Inner Nature of Music and the Experience of Tone." It's a collection of lectures by Rudolf Steiner - a philsopher who greatly influenced Paul Nordoff's idea of tone and (as I'm finding out) music therapy, use of the voice in therapy and composition.

its a fabulous book. some of its a little out there in terms of what he thinks about existence and consciousness. But the stuff on tone is amazing. Anyhow, I read this lecture today where he talks on and on about vowels vs. consonants.

Vowels, he says, is the connection to the spirit, to the experience of the more primitive stuff- raw emotions

Consonants are like the body, the instruments.

The vowels (or breath) pushes against the consonants in everything- they go side by side but they also dissolve into one another. He also says that when you go from earthly being to something greater, the consonants disappear and you are left with vowels, with one song, one universal song. It reminded me of a sort of Music of Spheres kind of idea. He says that speech is like the consonant and it derived from singing (the vowel)-- so that our original form of communication happened in song. So when we sing we go back to communicating on the level of vowels, of spirit, of beauty, of the aesthetic, of the raw emotions. Its a longing of wanting that spiritual connection back. Similarly, Nordoff emphasized the importance of creating melodies that mimic speech- in intonation, pitches and rhythm! pretty cool.

"When man speaks, he makes use of his body: the consonant element in him becomes the sculptural form of the body; and the stream of breath, which does not pass into solid, sculptural form, is used by the soul to play on this bodily instrument."

Anyhow. He brings it all together at the end (at which point I got really excited) and says, "if on extracts from the human being the breath, which the should makes use of in order to play on the instrument in song, ... the art of music, of song, arises." This made me think. The consonant or the body is like the container for the spirit (much like the therapeutic relationship is a container). The breath, the song is that direct connection to something greater. So I'm pondering on this and keep reading and he says this:

"Two types of spiritual beings fuse their activities. One brings forth and shapes the instrument, the other plays on the instrument." FUSE! FUSION! a bringing to together of the instrument (body) and player (soul/person). Sort of like INTEGRATION --- like what Nordoff and Robbins say (in their first book!) that in music the person becomes organized and integrated in their musical activity and it becomes the doorway to something more, to a peak experience, to a new awareness of themselves, a sense of accomplishment, a new connection.

I got really excited about that. That breathe and spirit connection to the body (the here and now) in someone that is wanting that (for whatever reason or goal) that's the beauty at the core and at the center of being! Thats when we see a client come alive in the music. He/She is connected to what/who they are on that deeper "more primitive" essential level.

Whoa.

Then I got more excited because as I was thinking of that quote: "Two types of spiritual beings fuse their activities. One brings forth and shapes the instrument, the other plays on the instrument." FUSION. Two Types of beings fuse their activities. Maybe it exists on a more "literal" level in music therapy. Maybe the role of the therapist is the being who brings forth and shapes the instrument (the person, the experiences) and the other who plays is the client.

That means that its our job to create opportunities for the player to play and get the most out of their instrument. Its our job to create opportunities for the player to discover all of the sounds and manners in which to play. Its our job to create opportunities for the player to find delight and joy in fusing together with another person, and additionally, fusing together with the music. It says nothing about the two beings making each other do a certain thing. Its simply a fusion, an opportunity, a moment. You can't make a client choose to fuse or choose to change or choose to try something. its ultimately their choice. BUT we can constantly bring forth opportunities and shape moments that are conducive to developing the instrument, song, client, moment.

Man. this is cool stuff.