Companion Notes to Video 2, "What is Music" from Integrating Technique and Music Making

It is very easy to get stuck in our default habit life and it takes some motivation to get us to look at things fresh. One way to help that process along is being a ‘detective’ looking for clues and evidence. On the video, as I’ve said many times before, rhythm, pitch and timbre, RPT, is the three limbed body of music’s appearance here in the physical worlds. The contemplation here is doing some detective work and seeing (hearing), where they appear in various aspects of our lives, inside and outside of ourselves. This is one of the gateways to connect to music as a living thing. Here is a simple outline to assist you on your journey: 1. get a notebook and divide it into three sections or get three small notebooks- one for rhythm, one for pitch and one for timbre. 2. every day for a week, jot down where you hear rhythm, pitch and timbre. You can for example follow rhythm for a day, pitch on another day and timbre for another day. This can keep you very tuned to each one with singularity and focus. You can also find other ways to do it. 3. At the end of each day, you can see what you have come up with. 4. You might find that you resonate more with one of these three than the other two. That is fine. That will help you learn more about you. From knowing that one more fully, the others might start to come into more clearly. 5. Get into the spirit of being a detective! You will be amazed at what you discover outside yourself and inside yourself. Your attitude and interest are key. Collect evidence, don’t judge it.