The Sound Of Music In Our Writer's Notebooks

I have recently been working with two groups of young writers in my capacity as Writer in Residence at a local primary school. Among these writers I have discovered writers who are experimenting with the writing of song lyrics. One writers has brought himself a new notebook solely for the purpose of capturing his emerging lyrics. He has another notebook dedicated to the collecting of stories and observations. I love how he recognized this need for specialization in his writing.

Two others writers have been collaborating on the writing of song lyrics and have also put some of their words to music at home. These writers are making decisions regarding their personal writing projects and their sense of agency and volition is being revealed to theeir fellow writers. 

Their focus upon writing lyrics and using dedicated notebooks has reminded me of a special notebook I was given as a gift. A notebook clearly designed to celebrate music in all its forms. The deliberate and intentional focus of this small notebook, challenged me to think about how I would respond as a writer. I began to think about my personal history with music. It was immediately apparent that music has been a constant in my life. Music has left its mark on me for as long as I can recall. Since receiving this special notebook I have been attempting to chart my personal music history. It remains a work in progress.  

Prompted by the efforts of these young writers, I shared my own musical manuscript with them in our most recent session. I hope by sharing I am validating their own musical pursuits.

Throughout this notebook, pages are periodically marked with musical quotations. One in particular set me to thinking. The quotation, attributed to German writer and poet, Heinrich Heine simply states, ‘When words leave off, music begins.’


From personal experience this maxim has always been borne out. Words and music locked in an embrace. At times they have co-existed, working in splendid synchronicity and feeding off each other’s special energy. During my writing history I have written three musicals along with the lyrics for more than twenty songs. Words and music have been the oxygen that sustains me. A day without either leaves me feeling depleted, incomplete.


So, I have embraced the challenge of this notebook most willingly. My journey with words and music is a refrain I wish to record. This notebook is providing the perfect impetus for undertaking this personal writing project. It is for me a celebration of a sweet melody –a musical memoir of sorts.




Extract:

‘My love of music has been further fuelled by listening to the radio as a small boy. I thrived on the songs bursting forth from the Bakelite box sitting on the mantel piece. Even the meagre offering of the hit parade once a week was bliss to my keen ears. I hung out for the weekly countdown of the eight most popular songs of the week. This soon expanded into the Top 40 and I found myself in musical heaven. Such was the extended countdown that Sunday afternoons (as it was back then) could be easily devoted to listening to the entire countdown of songs.’

‘Our house was filled with numerous musical offerings. My father sang to us regularly and his catchy songs became ingrained in my musical lexicon. I later passed them onto my children and then my grandchildren. These songs have endured. Dad also played the harmonica. In time I got one too, but I couldn’t control it in the same assured way he could. When he played I could easily recognize the tune. My particular sounds were more closely aligned to laboured breathing. To have a dad who both sang and played music was a joy. He was a somewhat private man, shy in fact. His music was only ever shared with his family. No public performances were ever part of the deal. Upon reflection, this makes the memories just a bit more precious. Providing a small glimpse behind the public face of a quiet and private man, who nonetheless found a way to share his love of music.’

So, my little musical notebook is reviving the music so intrinsically connected to my journey -some of it quite ancient. There are still many verses to add. I am looking forward to singing their praises. Ah, words and music, enabling me to create a little harmonic history. Feel free to join me in the chorus?

And if music has not been an essential part of your journey, maybe there's something else that been there all this time that deserves some recognition...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular With Other Visitors

Writing Opposite Poems

Image
 O pp o s ite  P oem s In his book, ' How To Write Poetry,'  Paul Janeczko presents the idea of opposite poems. Paul suggests they could also be referred to as antonym poems. This is wordplay and it's fun to try. Here are some examples Paul provides to help us see very clearly how these short little poems work. I think the opposite of chair Is sitting down with nothing there What is the opposite of kind? A goat that butts you from behind Paul Janeczko You will  notice the poems are written in rhyming couplets. They can be extended so long as you remember to write in couplets. Paul shows us how this is done. What is the opposite of new? Stale gum that's hard to chew A hot-dog roll as hard as rock Or a soiled and smelly forgotten sock You might notice that some of Paul's opposite Poems begin with a question. The remainder of the poem answer the question posed. Opposite poems are a challenge, but it is a challenge worth trying. Not eve...
Read more

Writing About Reading - Reading Reflection Journals:

Image
UPDATED February 2022 Writing in response to literature can be a great way for students to organize their thoughts, explore what they think, and generate ideas. One of the strengths of writing in journals is that it allows students to capture all of those great ideas that generally float off into the air during the discussion.  Journal writing can also become drudgery if students are asked to write too often, given little choice or inspiration in what to write, or if they simply don't have anything to say. While some students eagerly share their impressions about selections they have read in class discussions, others are less comfortable and keep their thoughts to themselves. In an effort to encourage all students to think more about what they read and confidently share their observations and opinions, some teachers are turning to the reading reflection journal and are gaining insights they never anticipated.  The Value of Reflection Journals   Journals assist teachers...
Read more

Learning How to 'Zoom In' When Writing

Image
It is important for young writers to understand that not all parts of a story are equal. There are parts through which a writer moves quickly, and important parts where the writer slows down and lingers a while. This is where the writer might intensify the action or reveal the character’s reactions in greater detail. Young writers need to know that this is a deliberate strategy on the part of the author. The author consciously zooms in. The writer uses a magnifying glass to view a part of the story more closely; to focus on a moment and to slow down time. When an important part of the story is enlarged upon, it   is a signal to the reader, that this part of the story is important. The strategy of ‘zooming in’ goes by many names: ‘exploding a moment’ ‘magnifying a moment’, ‘hotspot’ ‘snapshot’, ‘adding detail’ or ‘slowing the action.’  What ever the name, the idea is the same. The author writes in a way that expands a significant part of the story with the intentio...
Read more

Slice Of Life Story-The Trials Of A Left Handed Writer

Image
Amazingly I learnt to write using my left hand. An achievement against the prevailing beliefs of the day. My very first teacher saw it as her mission in life to ‘fix’ the poor, wretched little boy suffering from what she clearly diagnosed as left handed disease. She must have thought, 'This child must be re formatted! If he remains left handed he will be forever condemned to writing in a scrawl that no one will be able to read. Ugly hand, ugly hand.' ...They tried to say it couldn't be done, it mustn't be done. They took the pencil out of my left hand and placed it in my right hand. It felt unnatural. It felt weird. It was not right. More to the point it was not left. I was not about to conform. At least they didn't try tying my hand behind my back. Watch me I said. I may be an oddball, left handed scribbler but I am a determined oddball. I mean how boring would the world be if everyone wrote with their right hand? So I dug my toes in –and my hands to...
Read more

Exploring Themes in Poetry With Emerging Writers

Image
There is so much more to poetry than haiku and acrostics. Yet, so many young poets never get to experience the rich breadth of poetry beyond these highly structured forms. Why? Primarily, it’s about their teachers comfort levels with poetry. We often teach to what we know, meaning that being adventurous and taking young poets into new realms is not part of the poetic landscape for many. This sells young poets and poetry itself short. Last week I had the pleasure to again work with a group of young poets from Derrimut Primary School grade 5/6 in Melbourne’s west. We have been exploring patterns and repetition in poetry. We have explored personification as a literary device to develop the writing of poetry. We delved into the idea of writing through a mask to provide inanimate and animate entities with a voice. They told stories in words from their own perspective. On this occasion we again went to the edges and began to explore poetry through themes. We discussed a range ...
Read more