Music! The Shared Language of the Universe

Listening and Playing

I enjoy listening to and playing music. Nothing makes me aware of “being in the moment” as much as playing music with other people.  My belief is that the boundaries between different types of music exist only if we choose to recognize them, and that music is a human expression of a subset of the universal language of frequency, rhythm, and change (three different words for vibration).

Music as a Model of Workability

One of the models I have found for workability is based in my experience of playing music with other people. One enters an altered state of awareness, and in the service of something bigger than “self”, one’s perception alters. My experience is that several aspects of “reality” – my ideas of who I am, outward stresses and cares, even time – are all suspended in service of embodying the expression of music. I wonder of there is something that can be taken from this small experiential model and used at different scales of inter-personal relationships?

“If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music.” -– Albert Einstein

The music of the universe . . .

Bobby McFerrin Demonstrates the Power of the Pentatonic Scale from World Science Festival.

Every week, British musician Brian Eno and his friends gather in a London flat for a night of a capella singing. Eno believes group singing is more than just a good time: he says it renews mind, body, spirit and community.

When the John Lennon bus drove up to TEDActive, attendees got the chance to collaborate on a music video to share their ideas for what the world needs now.

Jill Sobule, John Doe, Sara Watkins, Stuart Johnson, Don Was, Dave Way, Krish Sharma and the amazing team on the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus came together to write, perform and produce an original song, on-site during the conference. Aaron Koblin directed the video, and the TEDActive community turned their ideas into illustrations, with a little help from artist Jansen Yee.

Originally written March 12, 2011

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