The Secrets to Making Music Come Alive

There are many talented musicians whose flying fingers can set the keyboard aflame, yet somehow their music sounds "empty." So is music more than just hitting all the right notes?

Of course. There are four components that need to be present in music for it to be complete. We will take a brief look at them in this article, but we will soon have a seminar that goes into much more detail.

#1 - The Purpose of Music

The first (and most obvious) element of music is the sound, or the purpose of music.

This is how everyone experiences and enjoys music. Listening to music is how one interprets, performs, and enjoys it. As a musician, it is helpful to listen to yourself perform as if you were in the audience yourself.

#2 - The Enjoyment of Music

This opens the door to the next aspect of music: the creative element, or the enjoyment of music.

Music that is solely a collection of lackluster notes is simply boring. The creative part of music is a result of listening and letting the music guide your imagination. As the music tells you a story, listen to the dramatic moments of suspense, calamity, excitement, and friction. This dramatic element inspires the dynamic and rhythmic nuance that truly makes music incredible.

#3 - The Execution of Music

So now that we know how we want our performance to sound, how do we get it to that level? This is where the technique, or the execution of music, comes in.

Technique is just the physical and mechanical form and motion of how you play an instrument. It has been said that some musicians "play with great feeling all the wrong notes." Proper technique helps you play with great feeling all the right notes.

Part of good technique comes from freeing yourself from everything except the music that you are playing. Another part comes from watching other exceptional musicians perform.

Some basic elements of good technique (for any instrument) include free elbows, relaxed but strong wrists, and good posture.

#4 - The Study of Music

This leads us to the study of music, the theory.

Now, you're thinking, "Oh, no! I hate music theory!" But trust me, it's actually quite simple and a load of fun if it is explained properly.

Music theory, in its simplest form, is just the study and explanation of how music works together. In our modern world, there a few broad types of music, but the one that is most common (which is why we will discuss it here) is western music.

The basis of western music (essentially European and American music that dates back to around 1650) is the scale. Once you know the twenty-four major and minor scales and practice them, you begin to understand how they work together and why.

Understanding the scale lays the foundation for you to learn and understand all the chords, chord progressions, modulations, and much more, all because you learned the scale! Pretty simply stuff! I didn't say it was easy, but it is simple.

I hope these thoughts help you in your understanding and appreciation of music. If you haven't yet, please consider joining our mailing list so you can receive more articles like this directly in your inbox.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Aaron Dempsey

I Corinthians 15:58