Natural Music Making

Here in Costa Rica, natural music is surrounding us all the time. The songs of the birds, and the cicadas, the constant pulse of the ocean roaring softly in it’s own groove, the wind rustling the palms.. The ever-changing orchestra of sounds and expressions emanating from the jungle and the sea are one of the true joys of living here for many people, both Tico’s and others. Nature is such a clear example of free expression and non-judgmental inclusion of all life, and for me provides a beautiful model for music making being able to encompass the infinite potentialities for expression thru the human being.

The “modern”/“developing” worlds typically define music as "an art form whose medium is sound. Common elements of music are pitch, rhythm, dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture." In my experience, thinking of music solely in this way feels unnatural, exclusive and limiting. It validates only part of the whole.

The treatment of "music" and "dance" as separate art forms is pre-dominantly a European idea. Most tribal cultures are more like nature in their understanding of what music is: all inclusive of all expressions. For example, in many Bantu languages, there is one word for both music and dance; they are inseparable parts of the whole. In Kiswahili, the word "ngoma" may be translated as "drum", "dance", "dance event", "dance celebration" or "music", depending on the context. Kala is the art of music in the East and has three aspects, vocal, instrumental and the expression of movement. In seeing music as more inclusive of all parts of itself, it becomes a much more whole expression and creates more equality amongst all those who share in it by validating all parts of the same equally. Music then becomes the entire experience of how we are relating to each other and moves beyond just the technicality of the sounds. It becomes the spirit of the Muses: poetry, movement, sound, expression, environment, nature and divine inspiration combined. It becomes more like Nature: harmonizing, wild, and beautifully free.