Music can be such a complex, vast topic that can take years to wrap your head around. People study it their whole lives. Some people never formally study it and that works out just fine too. I think I know why. The common thread I have seen in all of my musical studies, at the bottom of the pot when you boil it all down, is one simple thing: Harmony.
At the most basic level, music is two things: A bunch of notes, and when you choose to play them(rhythm). What notes do you play? The ones that sound good together. Harmony. What are chords? A group of notes that sound good together, played at the same time. Double Harmony. When a band plays together, the bass player is playing the notes that match whatever chords the guitarist is playing, while the singer sings a melody that sounds good with the notes of the previous two, all while the drummer and everyone else are playing in time with each other! I think that’s like 50 harmonic relationships, I lost count and I’m not a math teacher.
Even when you choose music to listen to, you are either choosing music that aligns with your mood, or choosing music you want to align to. Harmony. When you make a playlist, usually its organized to fit a common theme. Harmony. Even random playlists or song choices have a common, harmonious theme: Spontaneity, a twist of the turn, a random new mood. When you chose what instrument to learn, there was something about it that attracted you, and you wanted to align yourself with that. Harmony. It’s all about harmony.
I think that because music at it’s core is something that’s very much intuitive and natural for humans, we are able to resonate with it on a deep level and naturally pick things up. You don’t need to train kids how to dance and sing along with their favorite songs, they just do it. One of the big blocks that people have about making or playing music is that at some point, in our heads, music turned into this complex, ivory tower subject that only trained professionals and musicians can do well. In reality, it’s much more of a natural thing if you let it be. If you can decide what sounds good for dinner, you can decide which chords or notes sound good together. Getting started is really as easy as that. Go make some musical meals!
All in all, it’s really interesting and beautiful that at the core of all this learning, playing, studying and listening to music, is this goal to align with something. To harmonize our life with whatever quality we see in music. I would even say that that’s what life in general is all about, but that might just be my own personal philosophy.
I hope this sheds some light and clears up some misconceptions about music. I hope this inspires you to literally play music; to play with music.
J Holguin Music 