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Painting using a different set of instruments

Beste Tatlican

 

People have varying tastes when it comes to the type of music they listen to. In fact, sometimes you hear the phrase, “I listen to a bit of everything,” which I believe is such a valid statement. Sometimes, it’s to reminisce; other times, it’s to dream. Music is possibly the most abstract form of complicated integral parts adding up.

 

When a pianist’s hands reconnect with the soft keys, it’s such a contrast compared to the immediate obnoxious groove that comes from bass strings. Yet somehow, when the pianist is playing a more contemporary piece, they can hear individual accompaniment coming from the bass notes as if there was an actual contrabass next to them.

 

The otherwise cacophonous nature of the soprano notes might make the pianist think about how that specific trill or second-soprano harmony they played would sound if it was coming from the flute, or if it was being sung. So, just by playing the piano, they are, in a sense, listening to a bit of everything.

 

People usually refer to listening to multiple genres and artists when they say that in response to someone asking, “So, what type of music do you listen to?” But, I do think that there is a natural intersection between what one listens to on the way to work or school and what one hears when they play or pay attention to the music itself.

 

Music can be so dull, yet so dynamic. Without the intentional rests during the trading fours that goes on in a spontaneous celebration of a beautiful day in Central Park, the pauses to listen to the drummer’s polyrhythms in that breeze and the colorful modulations of the saxophone solos might not immediately stand out to the casual listener. It’s a constant effort at first to notice these things, but the more you intentionally listen, the more you hear.

 

I guess the best way to convey the complexity of musicianship is that anything from tension to euphoria can be expressed in one solo, where musicians essentially paint with sound. We are constantly producing paintings with multiple artists’ works coming together in real time, especially during jazz sets.

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