IcaruslandedSenior Contributor
Great Southern Land
Many moons ago, when I could actually see my feet and had more hair, I took my girlfriend to an Icehouse concert on the Sunshine Coast. It was truly epic and I still look back on it with much delight to this day.
They had the supporting acts and then everything went dark. You could have heard a pin drop as everyone in the crowd waited in anticipation. Then it started: this low drone, quiet at first and then louder - the beginning of the famous music track so many of us love, 'Great Southern Land.'. Then search lights in blue and gold sweeping slowly through the crowd...the tension in the air was intense and after a full five minutes, the stage erupted in a blaze of light, colour and sound - absolute genius way to start a show, hands down.
As someone with a music background (I play drums and the spoons...nah, just drums), a great intro can make or break a show, same as a speech, a book, a movie and so on. This was one of the best. That intro sets the stage and starts the story - and music is a language all on its own. We feel it every bit as much as we hear it.
Think for a moment though...what songs do you sing to yourself all day? What intro do you give yourself each morning and what outro when you go to bed? You are always the musician and you play a role in the whole band, plus you are the band master too. And, ts your show.
In music, there are different modes - collections of notes that work well together. One bum note can wreck the song, so its important we play the right notes for that mode or it will sound off. Or we might be playing them out of sequence? We can easily get off track in life, and sometimes we play a few bum notes and start to realise. Sometimes, we drift off into a different mode - we might jump from Ionian to Phrygian and wonder why we don't seem to fit anymore? All that's happening is we are playing a mode most haven't heard much and are unfamiliar with.
But sometimes, those different modes can give us a greater insight and we benefit greatly, often not realising until years later. For example - the difference in how you feel listening to music played in a major key is very different to that played in a minor key. But minor keys, although traditionally more sad in the feeling they convey, hold a greater depth and power than most major keys (major normally is uplifting). Empathy and compassion...major or minor, what you do think?
Let's circle back...you can always set the "tone" or "mode" for your day. Music is made up of measures, strung together to create the finished piece. You only have to focus on each measure, one bit at a time, and some of those will be rinse and repeat, as in a chorus or break. Point is not to let the whole track overwhem you - just focus on the next small collection of notes in that measure. Put enough together in a sequence that sounds pleasing and voila - instasong!
When I creat a piece of music, I start with a drum track then I add a base line. Its easy with a computer these days to create music, you don't even need to be able to read music, since it is graphical in format. I built the rest of the music around those two simple thing and a few moments later I have the basics of a song. Then I polish it as needed until I have a gem. Never let the process get overcomplicated.
Now lets relate this to your life. Start with your drum track - the daily little things you do each morning, like making the bed, brushing your teeth or making lunch. They are a steady beat you don't have to think about, they form the structure of your life. You know how to do them. Next, your bass line...think of this as like the glue that holds the song of your life together...your relationships to other people, your pets, work. You have a regular bass line, and sometimes, you change it up as needed, otherwise it sounds repetitive and predictable. We need something steady for sure, but we need to keep it interesting too, don't we?
Once we have structure, we can work on harmony, melody and other elements. Without a solid structure, these are virtually impossible to create. BUT, create a solid structure first and the more complicated stuff becomes much easier. Look at your life, control the things you can control, program that stability and predictability in first and then you have a sense of control for the more challenging stuff.
Then one day, maybe sooner than you think, you have done the basics so well, the whole process becomes a doddle and before you know it, in the future, your low drone and sweeping searchlights will be delighting the crowd creating your own 'Great Southern Land.'
Over to you Iva...
