As I’ve begun this blog, I’ve had in mind sharing ideas on music facilitated by experience in meditation, thus the title, Contemplating Music. Regular readers and those who know me well will have noticed that there is a divide in my writing, between technical issues surrounding my SEA analysis technique and the more general, socially… Continue reading Evolution of a practice
Tag: Beginner's Mind
Music and Spirit
When you get right down to it, the essential reason I am following a thread deep into the workings of music is that I sense the connection between music and spirit. I have even said in recent memory that music is spirit. Before the pandemic, my spouse (Vivian Montgomery) and I had a conference all… Continue reading Music and Spirit
Contradiction as a Path to Truth
Some years ago, at a conference of the Association for Contemplative Mind in Higher Education (ACMHE), I got excited about an idea brainstormed with a group, and the thought keeps popping up in various ways to this day. The idea, of how contradiction is a pathway to truth, may seem strange to some, so it’s… Continue reading Contradiction as a Path to Truth
What is, is.
What is, is: let that realization change your life. Well, it can if we keep returning to what it means, the fullness of its implications. The phrase on its own implies something immediately, and with a rejoinder begins to awaken deeper thoughts. The full statement should be: “What is, is. What is not, is not.” … Continue reading What is, is.
SEAstudy
I want to provide a little experience in estimating musical energy. I’ve given a taste of this sort of experience in my first SoundPost, and referenced the theory behind it in a couple of essays as well. The study here is very similar to something I’m carrying around to schools, where participants have the advantage… Continue reading SEAstudy
Return again
Things coalesce lately. Where to start? I could start from my father’s memorial service, my experiences at Yom Kippur, experience with posture and Qi Gong, things learned from gardening, things I remember my father saying, the formative experience that set me on the path of Just Listening… So many experiences all point to returning again… Continue reading Return again
Open Ears, Free Mind
As I have described elsewhere, this blog grows from my experiences with new music, teaching, and Zen meditation. These experiences and more have combined to spur the creation of Just Listening, which in fact derives its name from Shikantaza, or “just sitting”, the type of Zen meditation that I do. As I sat this morning,… Continue reading Open Ears, Free Mind
Resonance
Warning: this post will re-use an idea! Resonance is an incredible phenomenon: do it a little, the power of the action grows, do it again, do it again… a cycle of increase. Sound is a cycle, the same pattern of vibration thousands of times to hear even a short bit of it. And the idea of… Continue reading Resonance
Krishnamurti, SEA, Analysis
I have come across some quotes by J. Krishnamurti, on the subjects of listening and analysis. The thoughts push me to come up with a new word for the sort of holistic musical analysis enacted by my workshop, Just Listening, which I call by the rather technical name, the Sound-Energy Aggregate (SEA). I invite you… Continue reading Krishnamurti, SEA, Analysis
The Obvious
I have a saying that I inflict upon my students, mostly directed towards musical analysis, but widely applicable: “The obvious is in control… expose it!” The statement points toward a lot of important realities, and is at the very foundation of my workshop, Just Listening, which is in turn founded upon principles embedded in an… Continue reading The Obvious