“Music is the space between the notes.” – Claude Debussy
He could hear the piano no matter where he was in the house. I would practice, and he would listen. I loved playing, but I tended to hate the monotony of practicing. Still, one of my favorite pieces to play was Clair de Lune by Claude Debussy. It is breathtaking. It is moving and silvery slow and heartbreaking and peace. And I know that sentence kind of doesn’t make sense, but that is how the music is.
My Dad would listen to me play and sometimes he would shout from some other part of the house: Don’t just play the notes. Make music! And usually what that meant was that I was rushing through, unfeeling and robot-like. I needed to linger on the notes, to include the white space and to pause. Because the space between the notes is equally as important as the notes themselves. Sometimes, even more so.
That is what Tuesdays are all about around here. Tuesday is a day to elbow out the clutter and create some margin; the day to linger over those moments that we may otherwise tend to rush through, unfeeling and robot-like. But life happens in the space between the action. The white space is where we learn, reflect, remember, and offer thanks. If there is no space, then life will rushed and staccato. That isn’t music. That’s just noise.
The guidelines for Tuesdays Unwrapped can be found here. In summary, please link up with the permalink to your unwrapped post, or your link will sadly be deleted. I would also ask, as a courtesy, that you would please link back here to Chatting at the Sky by either using the button or a text link somewhere in your post. Thank you.
Recent Comments