52 Weeks Begin Now: Week Six: What is My Ground Bass?
52 Weeks Being Now: Week Six: What is My Ground Bass?
Background: The Passacaglia Within: I find when things get complicated; I often revert to musical analogy to make sense of my thinking. Perhaps this is because music was part of my upbringing, and I believe that its style and composition resemble the way that we operate in real life which is why we are so kindred to music in everything that we do. A passacaglia, for example, is a type of music that is built over a ground bass. This ostinated bass line of approximately 10 to 20 notes repeats over and over throughout the duration of the composition. A good example is Pachelbel’s Canon (You Tube version) that we all know so very well. Slowly as the piece unfolds, there are multiple soprano, alto and tenor voices and variations that unfold over the bass line. The bass line is important because it sets the key and establishes the bass note of the chord progressions that can go over top of it. This particular example is a peaceful version of the idea that I hope to explain further.
What is My Ground Bass Line? As I talk to people, both new and familiar, I realize lately that we are all playing a theme and variations over our own bass lines. Our bass-lines get more pronounced with age, if we have not actively changed them. Pachelbel’s Canon works very well as it is in a major key, and allows for many chord progressions that are uplifting and thought-provoking. It does not grow tiring (unless, of course, you listen to it too often). I would refer to its ground bass as one of “hope” and “optimism”. This might explain why so many people (including myself, 21 years ago) have used this particular canon for our wedding processionals.
Although we all have the ability to have multiple themes and variations in our lives, we do have the tendency to have one dominant bass line that grounds us to our life path. It is like our key message, or essential essence. It stays with us unconsciously until we consciously decide to change the track. Again, it sets the key and determines the harmonic progressions over which we operate our lives. Sometimes, I learn very clearly what people have as their core ostinato, as I listen to our conversations. Sometimes they are positive and say uplifting things, and this is why we like to be around these people as their music warms our heart:
- I think that good things are happening
- I want to help people
- I like who I am
- I am at peace with whatever comes my way
- I care about my family
- I want to make good things happen in the world
- The world is a good place to be
Sometimes, the repeated bass lines in our lives are not as positive, and it is more difficult to understand. The melody falls flat. It is boring and repetitive and grates on the listener’s ears:
- I am running out of time (biological clock)
- I do not like my role in life (parent, wife, husband, career, single person, married person, other)
- I do not like myself
- I need to make money to prove my worth
- I am afraid of what is happening in the world
- I do not think I am worth being around
- I have failed at things, and am unlikely to be successful
- I wish I were somewhere else
The music unravels quickly and the minor and dissonant message loses its musicality. A fine musician can pick out the message of each composer’s bass lines pretty quickly. Intuitively, we all can if we put on our metaphorical headphones around each other, and really listen.
Being in Tune: I don’t know why this idea of comparing our lives to Passacaglias came up for me today. All I know is that lately, I am reading pretty clearly what people’s dominant bass lines are that come through what they are saying, their body language or what they are not saying at all. In my efforts to have a fresh start, I am sensitive to what people are telling me. As well, I am listening to myself and trying to understand what my own ground bass is, and what it is telling people about me in return. I think I am finding it is best to stay in “The Key of Shelley” (to borrow a title by CBC). (I have always thought I worked best in the key of E flat major, but who can really say.) Most importantly, I am accepting that it is okay to not want to continually listen to everyone’s music where it is not musical to me. We are entitled to our preferences, and where I am an eclectic listener and appreciate all music, I tend to return to the music that inspires me.
Pachelbel’s Canon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOA-2hl1Vbc
Tags: experiments with truth, Finding new Friends, learning to accept self, Life's Discoveries, self-discovery
adventure ahead 