MA

We read this concept from the school newsletter recently & love the concept.

In Japanese aesthetics, there is the most beautiful concept, known so simply, as ‘ma’. Translated to ‘negative space’, ‘ma’ is that space between the walls of a building, the white between the lines of a drawing, the silence between the sounds in music.

It is not form, yet form cannot exist without ‘ma’; it is almost a philosophical statement—what is darkness, but the absence of light? It is what the person in the building, the person admiring the picture or the person listening to music experiences, and without it, there would be chaos.

In music, silence can take us on an emotional journey in almost any direction. We can find the building of incredible tension, the utter heartbreak of indescribable beauty, a sense of anticipation or the shock of surprise; the possibilities are endless, and it is this sense of possibility, of wonder, that ‘ma’ seeks to create.

And then  Chris who has IT, Music & teaching degrees adds to this with

Ma is a fundamental concept in martial arts as well; Maai means something like spacial relation (in fact it means - Maai (間合い), translating simply "interval"). There are intervals in music as well (the relationship in pitch). Music can be considered to have 8 parameters

TONE COLOR/TIMBRE/INSTRUMENTATION
RHYTHM
MELODY
DYNAMICS/EXPRESSION
TEXTURE
HARMONY
FORM
TEXT/EXTRAMUSICALITY

this is the ma (space of music) :)

We felt this when we enjoyed a recent strings concert.

We felt this when the Power was off this week.

We feel this when we are on the beach.

Is this why we have chapels?

Is it the sound of silence?

When we admitted to owning no mobile phone the piano teacher said’ you lucky man’.

The seminar presenter once said ‘there is wisdom there’.

Maybe the recent political events provide more Ma time.

Holidays certainly provide more Ma time .

Simply no screen time provides Ma.

Ma is down time.

We  are happier.

Say Yes more Often