Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Life Lessons from Music Practice: Rest Notations

Rests:  In music, these notations indicate where in the music to pause and for how long. Without them, a piece is really quite monotonous and boring.  Sometimes one hand rests while the other plays; sometimes both rest at the same time.  The rests occur throughout the piece, not generally at the end of it...
In life, we also need times of rest in varied amounts with and without other people:
  • A  few 10-15-minute coffee/tea breaks at your job
  • A 20-30 minute time of reading your Bible and praying
  • A one-hour  lunch break alone or with a friend
  • A free evening at home--no meetings, classes or appointments
  • An hour or two doing something you really love (preferably with your hands)
  • A good night's sleep of 6-8 hours
  • A relaxing weekend
  • A week or two of vacation or staycation
Take time to rest--your attitude and strength will benefit greatly from it.  You may think you can go and go and go without consequence but your body (and others) have probably felt the effects of a non-stop life.  A time of quietness refreshes the body and the soul and makes life more legato [musical term for a smooth, flowing manner] as we each continue on in our journey...
Matthew 11:28    Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Somehow I think I left a comment in the wrong place??
Not even sure where it went!

Mrs. T. said...

It's at the very bottom of the blog--not sure why. "I was resting from piano practice when I decided to check your blog. :) I'm making a point to do this more often. It's interesting how rests can be so much more effective than ongoing sound. Breaks in sound are refreshing for the ears, and they keep one's attention. (Like in Beethoven's Tempest Sonata!)"

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