Tragedy but Not Really – The Nguyen Composes

Piano version

Tragedy but Not Really Sheet MusicDownload

I also make a version of this song for a gypsy jazz band, swinging the crap out of it:

Gypsy Jazz Band version

Tragedy but Not Really – Gypsy Jazz Band Sheet MusicDownload

If you like this piece, you may also like my other funky bluesy piece: Staccato Blues.

Music as An Everyday Communication Tool?

Most of the time, we don’t think of how to use words to express our thinking, we just use them. There will be times when there are specialized words that we have to search for, or degree of intensity in a certain thing that we need to search some certain specific words for. But most of the time, it just comes out. This is similar to reach your hand out, palm up. We don’t think about how we raise our arm up, then how to twist our hand up, push it out. We just do it.

This is not just with our own body, a person driving car long enough, they can feel how much to steer, and feel the width and length of the car they are used to driving. When we play tennis, we can reach a point where we don’t think what angle of the tennis racket will we hold to hit the tennis ball, but will just use the racket like an extended arm and reach the tennis ball. In fact, the precise action of thinking about how o do it might affect our performance like described in “The Inner Game of Tennis”.

So, we are amazing at using tools like parts of our bodies, physical tools, or intangible tools.

This makes me wonder: can we use music in such a way?

At a certain level, when we have mastered our instruments or our voice. Let’s say, at a moment notice, we have the muscle and mental memory to play or sing any note at will. Or in music, note have to be the exact note (that would be perfect pitch), but just know the relative relation of two notes like how far or how higher or how lower they are. After we have reached that level or virtuosity, can we use it to express our thought at will?

There are certain way to question and answer in music. I think a lot of it has to do with how we use our language, too. I noticed the other day that you can make the cat-call sound using the piano as used in West World’s No Surprises – Stride Piano. I didn’t realize this at first but the comment section of YouTube (which sometimes is a troll mine, some other times is a gold mine) points that out to me. Side note: I love this stride piano piece and currently practicing it. Take a listen to the full song. This specific song also inspired me to create Staccato Blues.

So I start to notice more pattern or speaking in English. Here are some:

Question: med-low-briefhigh (huuuh?)

Opening/hooking phrase: med-high-high (so when this happens)

Annoy: low-high (nooOO)

Duh: brieflow-briefhigh-briefmed (duh)

Playful: low-high-low (oh-oohh-oh)

After figuring out the tones of different remarks, I can use the piano to recreate them.

That means I can weave music in to conversation to make simple remarks, what about more complicated conversation? Conveying a wider range of emotion, like happy, sorrow, doubt, and so on. Can we use notes to convey thoughts and emotions at moments notice?

Whistling has already been used as a language as demonstrated here. But, can it be universally understood, though? There might be some way to go, but the foundation is certainly there.