It’s there somewhere, waiting to be discovered. Lying quietly in a sea of hard black wood, tucked away at the back of the fingerboard.
It’s a note string players wait a while to find, a note that seems to live in the shadows of more explored places.
The note is a B flat.
So straightforward on woodwind and brass instruments. But, because of the way the instruments are made, more of a challenge on a cello.
My adult student, Akari, sits patiently and cheerfully, moving her index finger slightly up and down, listening and feeling for the elusive tingle. The note starts to bloom, then fades back into a duller sound.
Akari searches, and searches, up and down, minuscule distances each time.
And then, BOOM!
She’s found it! The sound turns from glimmer to solidity, a note full of texture and colour. Within less than a millimetre of space, Akari has captured the vibrations of the whole instrument with just one note. You can hear it and you can feel it in the tingle in your finger.
This music magic has a name and a scientific basis — it's called sympathetic resonance. It only happens when the note is in its perfect place, not too high or sharp, not too low or flat. It needs to be in the place where it can excite and stimulate all the notes around it. Otherwise, it will be out on its own and never fulfil its potential.
Just like our lives when they are feeling not quite right. You know that feeling of being a little off, a little out of tune with your environment, your friends, your sense of place? Feeling as if your vibe isn’t quite right?
But then we make a small adjustment, perhaps let some things go or change our way of doing something, and our lives begin to sing. Relationships improve, our health, our place in the world begins to resonate with everything around us.
It is simply magical when you find the right place.
Going back to the B flat on the cello, that sound is not reserved for experienced players or experts. Anyone can find that sound, they only need the will and patience to look for it by asking themselves, how can it sound better? Is there a fuller, richer sound?
In other words: how can it get any better than this?
Ed Ayres presents Weekend Breakfast on ABC Classic (Saturday and Sunday 6am–9am).