Weave a musical composition into your life today. It will make life better.
Positive Pensées
Kathy King
The Gift of Klezmer Music
“Life is one grand sweet song, so start the music.”
Unknown
Klezmer music tells a unique story, a life history.
The music weaves a story of music and melody.
Some of the music is scripted and other portions are improvised.
But when the tune comes together, it gives your ears a sweet and melodic prize.
Take those bits of the past that give you great joy and weave them into the tune.
Take the moments that taught you a lesson and add words and meaningful phrases.
Take those moments that gave you great pain and let the music wash it all away.
The rest of the piece you can just improvise, make the little trills and long notes that give your soul a great and worthy prize.
Compose your life like a Klezmer piece. Take the good, the bad, and the unknown.
Write a tune that will give you and yours a harmonious symphony.
When I was taking music theory in college, we had to study a variety of musical genres. One such genre I had never had the pleasure of knowing about was Klezmer music. My college experience was during the time when you had to sit in the music library and do your homework while in the library. These precious pieces of music were not allowed to leave the library because the CD or record might get scratched. The first genre of music that my class was assigned was Klezmer music. As the headphones came to my ears I was transported into a beautiful weaving of tunes that went on for hours. The clarinet played a beautiful and clear tone, the violin sounded uniquely Jewish and the Yiddish was like music to the ears. There is also a tradition of a lot of dances that are added while these pieces are played. There are more than 10 dances that can be danced while the music is playing. If you have ever seen a Jewish wedding, Klezmer music is typically played. There are also many non-dancing types of Klezmer music in this genre. The word Klezmer means “tools or utensils of melody”. During World War II the practice of Klezmer music all but disappeared. In the 1970’s the practice was revived and is alive and well today. If your life could be a Klezmer music composition what would your melody be? Hopefully you can weave in the circumstances that taught you a much needed lesson, or the teachings of a loved family member that serves you very well to this day. What about those painful experiences that made you a stronger person? Most definitely bring those notes into your composition. Also, take those bits of your life that bring you joy. They could be your kids, your hobbies, your significant other, and even your pet. After that portion of the melody just improvise. Take all the pieces that compose the tune and just play a fun and fanciful tune. If we let life dictate our tune or melody it might be a sad and lackluster sound that is not music to our ears. Take all the bits and make them a dulcet tone. Like the sounds that the violin and the cello make, it is like butter to the ear. Several years ago I served as a pianist for one of the most positive persons I have ever met in my life. He had very little knowledge of music, yet he sang like he was trained by the greatest master voice teacher. After a little time working with him I learned that he had tragically lost his wife prematurely, he had even lost a child. Yet he always had a smile on his face. He even had remarried a woman who had custody of her grandchildren, he willingly stepped into this situation as a man who had a lot of years on him and decided to help raise these young children. Each Sunday he would come to church, sing his slightly off tune tones to the hymns with a huge smile on his face. Finally out of of curiosity I asked him, “Why are you always so happy when life has handed you so much sadness.”. He looked at me with his lovely smile on his face and said, “Well honey, I could let all the sadness make me frown and mope around, and I do have days when I have grief for what I have lost. I take those moments and weave it into my song of life. I find something each day no matter how small and sing a tune of happiness even if that reason is very miniscule.”. What an amazing attitude. I ran into this precious soul recently at a restaurant and he still had that contagious smile on his face. This brought to mind Mr. Wendell, a beautiful soul who willingly would admit he can’t sing but I will sing you a tune with a smile, had made Klezmer music out of his life. Life is a great teacher if we are just open and willing to listen. Weave some Klezmer into your life.
Source:britannica.com
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