Every human begins his or her life immersed in the sound of
his or her mother’s heart beat. Diane Ackerman describes in great detail, the
significance of this experience, in her chapter on hearing. Iambic pentameter
(mostly found in poetry) mirrors the heart beat and therefore can give a third
dimensionality to the words, which have already been so artfully constructed.
The familiar beat gives us the feeling of comfort and ease, which allows the
words to seep through us and make the experience of a poem more pleasurable.
It seems clear to me, that our initial nine-month encounter
with the world, living inside of a constant rhythm, bestowed a love within each
of us, for all many forms of rhythm. We
see it in the music we listen to every day, regardless of the genre, its hard
to find music without a rhythm. We can
find rhythm incorporated in chanting, singing, praying and dancing, performed
by people in completely different cultures with totally different sounds all
over the world. No matter who we are, or
where we come from, we have all been touched by the constant rhythm; the
feeling of its vibrations, the comfort of its regularity and the energy it
carries.
Even without music, rhythm carries its own natural power to
amaze and hold our attention. I remember in high school every year, all of the
students would gather to perform: the strings, the chorus and the wind
instruments. Even though the music was beautiful and required so much effort
and practice by the students, it was really the improvisational drumming group,
which held everyone captivate. Suddenly we would forget where we were, our
hands would hit the drums on their own accord and the beat would sink into our
bodies. The audience was always perfectly still, never making a sound or interrupting
with a buzzing phone, and we would always receive the loudest applause. Clearly
there is something extremely special in the vibrations of a continuous beat.
This video demonstrates how we can make rhythms and enjoy them with anything that is around us. Not only will we be captivated by the sound, but those listening will also be captivated.
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