My Second Language Is Music

Me encanta la música

Working on a jazz chord melody • Mark Starlin

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I envy people who can speak more than one language. I took two years of Spanish in high school but never got fluent. Now, I only remember a few words and phrases. I have yet to find a good occasion to say, “El toro es grande.” But when I hear someone break into Spanish mid-conversation, I long to be able to do the same.

I have a friend from Finland who is a language savant. His job takes him all over the world, training local employees, everywhere from the Americas to Europe to the Middle East and Asia. And he speaks their languages. I once asked him how many languages he spoke. He thought for a moment and said, “All of them.” We both laughed, but I was tempted to believe him.

My wife and I visited Paris once. We don’t speak French, yet it wasn’t a problem. Most staff at hotels and restaurants spoke English. The only time we ran into any difficulty was at a market square in Versailles. We bought some cheese from a vendor who didn’t speak English. It was easy enough to point to the cheese to purchase it, but we wanted to get it sliced. After a few minutes of miming, we ended up leaving with a block of cheese. It simply wasn’t worth the trouble. But the cheese was very good.

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Actually, I do know a second language. It is just not a spoken language. It is a language of pitches or organized sound (melody, harmony, rhythm.) It is called music.

By learning the language of music, I have also picked up a little Italian. This is because its written form owes its origin to Italian monks looking for a way to notate chants so they wouldn’t have to memorize them. I know arpeggio means “in the manner of a harp.” Piano means “softly”, although pianos are loud. Forte means “loudly.”

Like most languages, music is also a written language. Its written form is called standard music notation and is a means by which musicians can communicate and share music. It started simple enough with the notes in a key. Do — re — mi — fa — so — la — ti — do. Then the monks discovered the notes between the key notes, and we ended up with twelve notes per octave. Over time, musicians invented music theory, adding enough hard-to-remember terms and complexity to describe music that it became a college major.

Standard music notation is more global than other languages. I can write music using standard music notation, and there is likely a musician in most parts of the world who can play it, regardless of what other languages they speak.

Fortunately, you don’t have to learn standard notation to make music. Many excellent songwriters and musicians can’t read music. Paul McCartney (The Beatles) is a good example. Music was around long before modern music theory. Theory is just an attempt to describe and notate, in an organized fashion, what was already there.

I know it is debatable whether music is actually a language. But its written form does allow the communication of musical ideas, so in that aspect, it is. Still, music goes beyond what can be notated on paper. It is also a language of emotion. A language that can make people want to get up and move. And a language that can touch people’s hearts, minds, and souls.

Now that I think about it, if I can only know one other language, music is a pretty good choice.

Thanks for reading and responding. You make it fun.

Mark