I'm late again!
And Akash is probably fuming as he knows this newsletter will hit his mailbox with a plea to prepare the newsletter immediately. I'm sorry Akash!
There's a lot to talk about and new team members whom I will introduce once I know them better and, of course, ask them to write their own newsletters.
But this week I've found myself trying to explain harmony and melody to a lot of our patrons, and I think I hit upon a metaphor that works well.
I think we've been conditioned to think visually, not aurally, so, in keeping with that assumption, lets see if this works!
Think of a song as if it's a painting. Now let's link the elements. What is the object of the painting? Say you are looking at a painting of a bowl of fruits, then the object will be the fruits and the bowl. The obvious elements of the painting.
Let's call these the melody of the painting/song. There's an outline, it has a definite form, you can link with/associate with/recognise it.
Super.
Now look at the color of the painting. The apple is red, the banana is yellow, the orange is... well... orange. The color is the harmony of the painting/song. It is extremely powerful as it can change the meaning of the painting completely. Paint the apple brown and the banana red and the orange purple and the fruits might not seem that appetising anymore. You can change the emotion that the painting invokes by changing the color, and that is the beauty of harmony.
You can change what the song emotes by changing the harmony of a song. Understanding how to create harmony and reharmonise songs is complex, it is a lifetime of study, but the beauty is that it is as easy to perceive for the listener as the colors of a painting are for an observer.
Does this make sense? I hope this makes sense. Please let me know if this makes sense!
Now please open up some Bill Evans on youtube (recommended starting point - Waltz for Debby), and swing by later to catch Avery & Tomek kick off this weeks madness tonight.
It's a huge honor for us to host Lou Majaw this Saturday, come experience his incredible energy.
Till next week
With love
Arjun
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