My daughter was messing around on her grandmother's piano yesterday and I noticed that she very methodically lined up the cards first and then "played" to them. After a short spurt of "music", she would re-arrange the cards and substitute some of them for new ones. Musical playing cards. Of course. 52 notes, a multitude of combinations that produce a whole new range of melodies. You just have to learn a new set of notes. What songs would they combine to create? Which card would be your favourite? Which suit? Hmmm, hmmm, hmmm. Makes me want to play a hand. How about you? I can picture myself clutching a handful of cards as I fall to sleep, a sleep that brings a dream of lullabies I haven't heard yet.
We talk to ourselves everyday, all day (and night) for the whole of our lives. We started talking to ourselves before we knew we were a self, we forget what we said because we forget everything from before...when we were too young and busy developing our brain to remember those early years. There is still lingering residue of long forgotten conversations I have had with myself as a toddler sitting around in the crevices...sloughing off occasionally into words I tell myself still. We talk non-stop, and not just with dialogue. Our goosebumps communicate to us, our tingly feelings, our neurons, our peripheal vision. They are all submitting data into our self and expecting us to react, respond or all to often, expecting what they are sending us will be ignored. After all that talking, you'd think we'd know what we think about most things, but occasionally we are stumped. Unless we stop what we are doing and really concentrate sometimes that voice(s) ...
This is such a beautiful idea. It kind of reminds me of John Cage's work as well - our idea of music being re-arranged by say silence, or in this case, playing a hand of cards. Beautiful image, I love it. Sheilah
ReplyDeletethanks for letting me know about John Cage, Sheilah. I checked him out a little. Fascinating. I found this youtube video of a recent version of his 4'33 and it makes you think about finding/expressing music through silence in the age of the blackberry.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPZYyq8LoxA
it's hard to give over to that silence! xo erin