Comments on: Noticing

By: rose

rose — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 21:49:47 +0000

An ancient Emperor of China enlisted his best musicians to study the tonal qualities of music, they coming up with 12. Four of these he allowed the people to hear, citing that if they were exposed to the full range, they would achieve self awareness and rebel against being ruled.

Even today, in choir, we are given a range and told it is ours. Alto, soprano, etc.

By: Jeremy Zitter

Jeremy Zitter — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 17:12:13 +0000

Interesting post, Dave. I had a similar revelation not long ago, when I was driving home from work on the same freeway I’ve used thousands of times and noticed something new: an entire section of the gigantic wall separating the freeway from a residential area, which consisted of overhanging eaves that were actually a part of the roofs of adjoining houses, as if the freeway wall also doubled as the walls of neighborhood houses. It was odd, and I spent the next hour puzzling over these eaves spilling into the freeway and sort of freaked out that I had never noticed this strange feature before. I wondered what other weird things I never notice and actually decided to notice one new thing in my neighborhood each day.

But most of the time I forget. Thanks for reminding me.

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 13:58:51 +0000

JaneAnne — Your husband can do the drone exercise with any instrument. Have him shut himself up in a room with a single, sustained note (maybe on a keyboard or something) and sing along, then move up the intervals and back down. Best to do this with nobody else in the house, I think.

By: JaneAnne

JaneAnne — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 07:13:32 +0000

Hmmm. Now I’m wondering if I need to have my husband take pedal steel guitar to help him learn how to match pitch better (he’s otherwise a decent musician, but his less-than-great ear makes it so I don’t want to sing in small groups with him–and I’m still a little smitten with the notion of singing together).

There’s also something to be said about *not* noticing–things like swear words in movies. Since I am on the crass side, and swear a lot in electronic conversation and in my head (if not in front of my children), I’m desensitized. Some of my more orthodox family members (who buy into that whole “no R-rated movies” thing) are so distracted by a few naughty words that they can’t enjoy a good film.

By: galt

galt — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 01:06:32 +0000

what a good post, dave. There’s a lot of hope in a post that gets us to look closer at the world and see unexpected beauty in places you’ve been a thousand times before.

it’s a little more trivial than perfect pitch and the light of painters, but I’ve had these trancelike moments at the pool table. After the break, deciding on which balls to shoot at, I soon begin to sense my path around the table from one shot to the next. It’s hard to articulate the instinct, but the spacing and the placement and the juxtaposition of the balls all make sense and dictate a strategy.

It’s only happened like this after years of practice, and I guess that’s what I’d add to your thoughts. The practice precedes and informs the noticing, which precedes the making. So that’s my $0.02.

ummm. carry on.