When Poetry Meets Music...At The Same Time...In The Same Body: Let Praises Rise
In the interest of better documenting my journey, I decided to peruse my phone storage for some interesting pictures and videos, and stumbled upon a possible gem.
In the summer of 2016, I had an idea: I'm pretty good at improvising chords and melodies without much thought (or at least that's what I've been told). And most times of the year, I'm pushing poetry out of my creative womb on the daily, and I enjoy my poems when they're surrounded in space and sound by music. So why not do both...at the same time?
But Benji, you say, multitasking is ineffective. That's impossible. How do you focus? You're lying.
Well, I mean, watch the video. Lol. I will say, it is definitely difficult to pull off when a) my chords get too complex, b) I'm allocating to much focus to my melodies, or c) I haven't memorized the poem or can't navigate through it easily on my phone screen. But the fun I have in performing pieces this way definitely outweighs the strain on my motor skills and focus. Every time I try to recite a poem while improvising on a piano, I know I will never be able to perfectly recreate what I'm about to do, not without an undesirable amount of repetition and practice. And that's why it's so fun for me. It's a one-of-a-kind experience if I've ever had one.
So drop a comment, let me know what you think. I've finally gotten myself a keyboard again, so there may be more of these poetry + music videos in the future. PLEASE, oh please, comment if you have a better name for this form of expression. Lol. Poetry + music video is probably the worst title for something I have ever created.
Peace,
Benji
Photo by Osman Rana on Unsplash