It’s All Right There in Front of Us…

View from Lookout over St. Rose du Nord - Saguenay-Lac St Jean Region, Quebec Canada

I have been fortunate enough to travel to some amazing places in Europe, South East Asia, the US, and across Canada. It’s wonderful to experience new places and learn about how people perceive, create and live in the world around them. I have also had the opportunity to meet many interesting people. This last week, I traveled with a longtime friend to the south and north shores of the St Lawrence River, and part of the Saguenay-Lac St Jean region in the province of Quebec. I have lived in Quebec all my life, and I admit that this is the first time I have ever visited these places. My longtime friend, an avid outdoor enthusiast, showed me amazing towns and sites she has visited, camped, hiked and kayaked. We sat on the shores and watched for whales, and my heart leapt when I saw this magnificent creature preen in the waters before me (I was lucky to spot one after learning there were less whale sightings than usual this year). I saw the Dunes in Tadoussac, the mountains and fjords of the Saguenay Lac St Jean Region, and passed through beautiful towns on the southern and Northern shores of the St. Lawrence including St-Jean-Port-Joli, Montmagny, La Malbaie, St-Irénée and Baie-St-Paul.  

In the hours we spent together, I learned new things about my friend whom I have known for over 30 yrs. I was impressed by her knowledge and captivated by her stories about her experiences in the area. Interestingly, songs were spontaneously coming up in my head, songwriting is something I have never really considered, and I am now feeling drawn to it. 

There is something about seeing the most obvious aspects of our lives in a new light that brings about unexpected and amazing surprises. It’s about opening up to the awe of wonder of what could otherwise be taken for granted as places close to home or someone we think we know well. 

The elusive obvious: wonder and awe are much closer to us than we think.

I feel rooted and refreshed. I am grateful for that sense of being home, and the unfamiliar that can be found in the familiar. 

It’s All Right There in Front of Us…

We visited St Rose du Nord, known as “The Pearl of the fjord”. My friend brought me on a hike up to a lookout over the town that is nestled in the fjords. I was awestruck by the view and the rainbow! Another rainshower came in, and just before we left, we turned around to take one last look and there appeared another incredible rainbow right over the valley! It disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

I was fortunate to capture those breathtaking moments in this sequence of 4 photographs. 

There are 5 notes in the pentatonic scale, 7 notes in the major scale, and 12 notes in the chromatic scale, yet the melodic and harmonic possibilities are endless. There is the steadiness of pulse and the form offered by meters, yet rhythmic combinations are endless. There are songs we love, and so many ways they can be interpreted and performed. The human voice is capable of a myriad of sounds, I never tire of exploring it. Musical instruments are also capable of many sounds: a piano can sound as different as each individual who plays it. 

As I write this, I remind myself that there is always room for new discoveries - and hope that you too can find the extraordinary in what might at first glance seem like the ordinary. There are so many new sites to see on our well travelled roads if we remain open enough to let them catch our attention. 

Allow yourself to redefine the familiar in your music. Take a song you know and play it at a completely different speed or in a different mode, or close your eyes and play the song in the exact rhythm you know but let your fingers fall on random notes. Sing a song you know but change the melody. Experimenting opens our listening and expression. Sing a line of a song you like and then play with how many different ways you can sing it - change up the melody, repeat some words, speed it up, slow it down. What new insights do you discover? 

Improvise!

Play with music you know well

Be a tourist in your own town, province of state

Try a new activity with a longtime friend or spouse

Embrace curiosity and surprise

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Yes! Let’s Explore Singing and Improvisation This Fall!