Parallels of Music and Sufism
Sometimes to get a better understanding of what one thing is, it helps to go at it through a parallel medium. In this case, what I am going to say about music, I have found to be a direct correlation with Sufism.
The one thing that every musician always needs to do is practice. Without practice, there is no growth or ability to play the instrument. Muscles weaken without practice, as well as pattern recognition, sight-reading, listening, rhythm, memorization. With practice, these abilities increase until, if one is called, one may perform before others and create deeply moving concerts and emotions within the hearts of the listeners.
In sufism, if you do not practice what you have learned, or do your zikr (special practice that helps the student remember Allah), or serve others, the nafs (ego matrix) may regain control.
No real mastery of the instrument can happen without the right teacher. One may bounce from teacher to teacher, or instrument to instrument, but until there is a focus on one instrument and one teacher, there can be no significant next step in learning. In order to learn from the teacher, one must recognize one’s own lack of knowledge regarding music. This requires humility and openness - both to accepting new ideas and to being corrected. There can be no place for pride or arrogance, because it interferes with real learning. At certain stages, the student becomes self-conscious while playing before the teacher. A shift in awareness occurs as the student begins to actually Listen to the sounds s/he is playing. Before this moment, the student has had an idea of what the music sounds like, and is caught up in the imagining of how their playing sounds. But when this shifts to a sudden perception of the reality of the sounds, usually in the presence of the teacher, it is like a new beginning, and the next step of training can begin.
In sufism, the better the connection with your teacher, the closer your understanding of Allah, and vice versa.
Music deals in the realm of the unseen. One has to use one’s ears to appreciate it, and develop the ability to actively listen, rather than passively hearing. Active listening requires that nothing else interfere with the incoming signals. Stray thoughts and desires are brushed easily aside so that one participates in the music and completes the circuit, for without a listener, there is no music.
Music is made up of vibrations. Each instrument produces vibrations, each in it’s own way. The drum skin is set in motion when struck, the string is continuously grabbed and released by the bow, also plucked, strummed, or struck.
Most of these instruments need to be hollow inside for the vibrations to magnify and be transmitted. The solid body instruments that are electrified such as the guitar, violin, still need a cabinet and speakers. But regarding the acoustic instruments, they sound best when empty.
Because music is composed of vibrations, masters from the past still live on today in the works they created, and which we still perform. Bach, Mozart, Gershwin, Stravinsky, John Lennon - their vibrations are still in the air today when we play their music. They are unseen but immortal.
Great musicians put their entire being behind every note they play. They understand that intention, coupled with action communicates and goes directly to the heart. It is as though the notes are carrier waves for deeper things- as though one heart shoots its love or longing through open space to another heart, as an electrical spark might. This kind of intimate sharing occurs when action and intention are united towards something greater- as part of a sonata, concerto, chamber music or even solo.
When practicing to perform a piece, one learns how to hear one’s mistakes, and apply techniques to correct them. Either you hear the mistake, or your teacher points it out.
In studying music, one learns the theory and science behind the music, how and why sounds are put together. Detailed analysis of the masters is a requisite of the training.
No matter how many books you read, no matter how many teachers you study with, it is not music unless you put yourself on the line and play for others. Action is what counts. At a certain point in your training, you can only really know what you need to learn when you perform and make music.
It’s about learning what mistakes you make and finding ways not to make the same mistakes
Finally, after practicing enough on your own, you learn how to play music with others. What’s so hard about that? It’s a continuous give and take, that happens first on a large scale- what pieces are we going to play? To the very fine scale of playing within the beat- pushing, pulling, interpretation, leading, following, backing up, accelerando, ritardando, getting a groove, accepting others suggestions. Talk about a team player- it’s an ongoing balancing act, where you must subsume your ego for the sake of making better music.
Should you do well in an ensemble like this, perhaps Allah will choose you to play in His orchestra of Light and Service. |
