From the practice room …
When learning a piece of music, there are a whole slew of ways we can go about practicing. Some ways of learning or practicing help a piece of information click sooner than others. While other ways accidentally teach us the wrong way before we get to the right one. A method that a teacher of mine used with me a few years ago was rather novel. “Ok,” he said “you’re struggling with singing this passage right – this time I want you to sing it completely wrong. Purposefully sing what’s not on the page.” Now, as someone who more often learns music rather than composes songs – this was a CHALLENGE. What do you mean that I should sing it wrong? I thought you were trying to get me to sing it “right” ?!?
But something surprising happened – at the end of the exercise, after flailing about and making active choices about where to change what was written – you know what, the original “problem sections” worked themselves out and the tricky spots had suddenly gotten easier.
This “what if…” exercise comes to mind when thinking about a research study on gratitude titled “It’s a Wonderful Life: Mentally Subtracting positive events …”. It turns out that if you’re struggling with Gratitude, consider a good thing in your life and imagine a world where it never happened. Study participants who imagined a world where a good thing didn’t happen were more grateful for that good thing than those who just reflected on gratitude for that good event.
This month I invite you to “play” with gratitude.
To get you in that spirit of play – here’s a hymn from our new hymnal,”Sing Out Love” – “Bright Morning Star” done a few different ways. First one by The Wailin’ Jennys, next by Cara Dillon and lastly the one found in Sing Out Love, by our fellow UUs at Sanctuary Boston have recorded a version of “Bright Morning Stars” that starts off in a traditional setting of Bright Morning Stars then plays with it – imagining it with a new rhythm and melody. We’ll be playing with gratitude this month – may it break open our souls in all the ways we long for.
- Bright Morning Stars – The Wailin’ Jennys
- Bright Morning Star by Cara Dillon
- Bright Morning Star – from Sanctuary Boston’s new album The Sanctuary Boston.
All Blessings in your play,
Ebee Bromley, UUBerks’ director of religious education & director of music