Fun fact: Every member of my family can sing. I’m talking several octaves and wild falsettos. Growing up, we always sang as a family, whether it was in church or on road trips across Texas or just with a karaoke machine and microphone in our home. I vividly remember, we each would take certain lines in a song or a certain note in the harmony, and when I say, it was so much fun, I mean it. Music has brought so much joy to our lives. Fun Fact #2: My family’s businesses have revolved around the music industry.
My siblings and I LOVE to sing. And just thinking of the memories I want to write about here fills my heart with so much joy. There is nothing like that “ooh” or “okay” or one of my favorites “you better sing” when one of us is hitting a really fun note or adding to the harmony in an impeccable way. We call it the notes in between.
Now, listen, I am not in any way formally trained, so I am not going to be using any technical terms here. I often say “It’s somewhere in there” when I am trying to decipher what note I’m going for in a harmony. It can almost be overwhelming because the brain jumps to identify each note in between two major notes and then you have to pick which one you are going to sing. My sister and I always jump the same note and then, upon hearing us sing the same note, we jump to the exact same second note, which always makes us giggle. But even now in my late 20s, I hear songs I’ve known and loved for over a decade, and hear a harmony in between that I may not have tried yet. A slight note change can alter the tone of the whole harmony by making it sound a little somber or a bit more delicate with more head voice. Some notes in between can truly change the vibe from dark and mysterious to lively, from sweet to intentionally jarring, and from soft to powerful.
There are infinite rational numbers between two integers. Similarly, there are many hidden harmonies between two notes. So Rosy, where are you going with this if you’re not even going to sing for us?
Listen. The most harmonious, beautiful, dark, rocky, strained, pleasant, odd, and REAL note is somewhere in there. With time and training, or if it just comes naturally for some of us—hair flip—you can train your ear to listen to the notes in between.
When you hear a song, you may be tempted to hear the note you’ve always heard. There may be some sort of negative space, a silent harmony, waiting to be heard and appreciated.
Have you trained your ears to really listen? Can you hear the notes in between or read between the lines when it comes to your audience? Your employees? Your clients? Or have you trained yourself to listen for what you only expect to hear?
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