"It is through our activities that we…practice skills, express our feelings, experience pleasure…” (Hopkins & Smith, 1983, pp. 191).
Singing and playing guitar is an affordance that definitely lends itself to the expression of feelings and beauty. When I was last at Church singing within a group of hundreds of others, I was reminded of the beauty that harmony and expression of spirituality can bring. After this, I was extremely motivated to go home and practise my singing as a way of emotional expression. Reciprocal motivators – go to Church to sing and sing by going to Church!
Over my years of playing and singing, my tastes for the type of music I most enjoy playing have only marginally changed. I tend to classify my music as easy listening/folky and continue to find this type of sound the most soothing and enjoyable to practise and perform. Traditionally, folk music has been passed down by oral tradition and has evolved over thousands of years to what it is today ("The History of Folk Music”, 2007). I find it amazing that the true essence of folk music - the expression of life or stories of struggles and happiness, are expressed through song that is still evident in the music that I play today. My ability to mould songs and give them my own flavour enriches my playing pleasure and is the opportunity to work on enhancing the sound of the song - however this is totally subjective!
Hopkins, H.L., & Smith, H.D. (1983). Analyzing occupation and activity: A way of thinking about occupational performance. In E. Crepeau, E. Cohn, & B. Schell (Eds.), Willard and Spackman’s occupational therapy (10th ed., pp.189-198). Philadelphia: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins.
Merryn I think you have done a beautiful job of describing how singing and playing the guitar lends itself to expression. You have made a great point that expression comes not only from the one who is performing but can provoke expressions of the listener through their actions, thoughts and emotions. How music influences me and the possibility that my actions and/or feelings after listening to a song may have been the considered by the performer is a new way of listening to music. Thank you for the insight. I wonder when you say your ability to mould songs and give them your own flavour gives you pleasure. Is this because you are expressing yourself or wanting a different expression from your listeners? Maybe both?
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