Strategies to Infuse Your Music with Expression and Emotion
1. Where The Problem Starts 😔
Learning an instrument is a difficult skill to acquire! It takes a lot of time, repetitive practice and commitment for it to become second nature. So it stands to reason that when we spend all of our time learning to read notes and trying to get our fingers to do the right thing that HOW you play the notes gets relegated to the bottom of the priority list!
When I was aged 16, I too spent a large amount of time just trying to get notes learnt and trying not to make mistakes, particularly as I was keen to play lots of flashy piano pieces. It was only much later in my playing career that I realised that this doesn’t actually need to be the case and we don’t necessarily need to sacrifice how we play a piece and the affect it can have in order to learn the notes!
2. Parallels With Life 👴🏻
The entire point of music is that it reflects the human experience. This is why music is so affective in films, because no matter what the emotion…music can create or elevate it.
How though? What happens in the music to create certain feelings? Well, we can look at this by breaking music down into its component parts.
RHYTHM
Rhythm is an important feature of music and is one of the main factors that can determine music from culture to culture. Rhythm has been effectively used for thousands of years to not only distinguish your tribe from another but also as a way of synchronising dance in ceremony. So it’s no wonder that today we use rhythm in much the same way…in essence the more rhythmically driven a piece of music is, the more we feel the urge to move!
HARMONY
Harmony is a complex topic, but we are essentially talking about chords! Interestingly, the chords that are considered “pleasing” are different across the world. Even in Western Music, chords that are used in music today would have been considered absurd to composers only a few decades ago, largely due to cultures colliding and music being shared. This is to say that the idea of the humble “triad” being the core of chords in music, isn’t the case everywhere in the world or for all of history. So to understand why chords feel the way that they do, we need to look at where they came from, and how we have come to interpret them, rather than look to something seemingly inherent within us like rhythm.
MELODY
Particularly in Western music, in the 21st century we have music writing down to a fine art. Melodies feel like one of the few things that can really differentiate each song or piece. However, this isn’t entirely the case either. Melodies tend to use notes from the chord more often than not…and if they are using a note that isn’t in the chord, its often a “passing note” to another chord note or an “auxiliary note” which is a note that steps out of the chord and then back to the same comfortable note! But which note of a chord that a melody is using or how a melody is moving from chord note to chord note is what gives us the meaning and feeling that seemingly differentiates one song from another.
TEXTURE
Historically, before we had recordings of music and all music was listened to live (I know - unimaginable), more instruments generally meant more volume! In the 1600-1700’s (Baroque Period), standard orchestras were much smaller and as music became more and more expressive and required a larger “dynamic range”, orchestras naturally expanded to include many more players. However, the principles haven’t changed, we still have instruments ranging from low pitch to high pitch in order to fill out the “frequency range”. Meaning, if we have lots of low instruments and nothing else, it’s not going to sound thick textured, it will just sound muddy…similarly if we have lots of high pitched instruments and nothing else. So texture really refers to a combination of volume and how spread out the pitch of the notes are (or how much of the piano is being used - for simplicity).
INSTRUMENTATION
Instrumentation is actually one of the biggest contributors to how a piece of music feels. An example of this being; if I were to play a piece of music on the piano compared to playing it on a sitar. If I played the piece on a sitar, no doubt it would make you feel like you are experiencing Indian culture….at least more so than hearing it on the piano! Not only do the instruments matter in determining the feeling of a piece of music, but also if I were to be playing a sitar piece on the piano…my attempts at replicating how a sitar might play a piece of music would drastically change the feeling of the piece of music.
STRUCTURE
As with all of the other elements of music, the way we structure music has changed and become more streamlined. Back in the good ol’ tribe days, music was simplistic, it was largely one idea (usually a drum or some vocals) - repeated! Job done! However, if we look back to the late 1700’s, it was 30 minute sonatas or symphonies with a complex structure. Now, we have a very clear 3 minute structure to adhere to in today’s popular music. The idea here, however, is not to say that any of these are better than the other, but ask; what does this tell us about how the music feels? Well, a repeating structure builds familiarity and feels safe whereas complex structures are more exploratory and depict a journey.
3. Glossary Of Meaning 📝
So it’s clear that each element of music contributes to how music feels. But are there any noticeable formulas? Today, some features of Western music have come to have particular meanings. Here are some features that I have noticed and you can use when you are playing music:
RHYTHM
- Fast Tempo - Tempo tends to relate to, or imitate, our heart beat - so a fast tempo means: action, energy, lively, fun, panic
- Slow Tempo - The opposite of a fast temp - so a slow tempo means: sedate, low energy, sad, contemplative, still, relaxed
- Held Chords - Like a slow tempo, held chords mean things are changing much slower, so this means: calm, predictable, easy-going
- Rhythmic Chords - Unlike held chords rhythmic chords can mean: danceable, constant change, unpredictable, bouncy, energetic, fun
HARMONY
- Major Chords - happy, jovial, laid-back, fun, playful, pleasant, proud, excited, safe, hopeful
- Minor Chords - sad, envious, frustrated, hate, reluctant, anxious
- Major 7th Chords - romantic, jazzy, serene, longing, calm
- Minor 7th Chords - mellow, bluesy, inquisitive, funky
- Diminished Chords - unsettled, uncertain, unpredictable, tense, shocked, suspenseful
- Dominant 7th Chords - strong, confident, poised, predictable, dependable
- Arpeggios - Arpeggios can be played in a lots of different ways, but separating the chord notes can be to add rhythm or to add interest to the chords. So this can mean - lively, fun, flashy, predictable, confident
MELODY
- Using Chord Notes - strong, stable, confident, relaxed, assured, reliable
- Using Non-Chord Notes - insecure, unstable, clashing, unresolved
- Jumping - bouncy, lively, fun, jovial, playful
- Moving By Step - safe, predictable, flowing
- Rhythmic - fun, controlled, energetic, danceable
- Held Notes - safe, dependable, strong, powerful, assured
TEXTURE
- Just A Melody (monophonic) - lonely, isolated, wandering, mysterious, contemplative, searching
- Melody And Accompaniment (homophonic) - safe, controlled, introverted, intimate, full, warm
- Lots Of Moving Parts (polyphonic) - manic, bustling, conversational, playful, fun, excited
INSTRUMENTATION
- Orchestra - big, warm, open, full, expansive, safe, dependable, controlled
- Piano - homely, warm, grand, bright, relaxed, stable, open
- Guitar - homely, spirited, raw, warm, safe, introverted
- Band - fun, strong, powerful, reliable
- String Quartet - reflective, warm, comforting, conversational, relaxed, jovial, playful
- Choir - warm, bright, community, full, comforting, big, stable, dependable
STRUCTURE
- 1 Idea Repeating - predictable, secure, controlled, familiar
- 2-3 Sections Repeating - predictable, fun, interesting, stable
- No Repeats - narrative, unpredictable, unnerving, playful, journey
- Motifs - secure, predictable, familiar, resolved, controlled
There are many more aspects of music that we can attribute different feelings to, however, the key is to build your own catalogue and be aware of how your playing feels and why!
4. Feelings First 🤗
It’s all well and good knowing how different aspects of music feel, but how do you actually get this into your playing? Well, instead of learning to play the notes, get the fingers right and understand the music, instead, learn to play the feelings.
Of course it’s super important to learn how to physically play the music, but before you do, ask yourself…
What does it feel like?
Why does it feel like that?
How shall I play it to show that feeling?
The funny thing is, as humans we already feel music…but as musicians, we just need to understand why and how we can replicate it! So, the more you “actively” listen to music and ask yourself “what about this music is making me feel this?”, the more easily you will be able to infuse your music with expression and emotion!
Matthew Cawood
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