I started learning the piano at the tender age of 6 years old. And it was my first love. My maternal grandfather, Don Francisco Escobar, was a great musician in the beautiful golden city of Zacatecas. I have beautiful memories of when my cousins and I would visit him while he played at masses in the beautiful church of Santo Domingo. And at that age I didn’t go so much for mass, but to hear him sing and play on the pipe organ. I remember that we liked to put our hand on the keyboard and listen to some note that had nothing to do with the key that my grandfather played. He then scratched us to get us to remove our playful hands.
As time went by, my love for the piano became serious enough for me to decide to study music. As part of my studies, I had to take a complementary instrument. I wanted violin, but the class was already full. With singing it was the same situation. I asked what was available, and they said, violoncello (cello for short). I figured there wouldn’t be much of a problem, since I only needed to take it for two years. What I didn’t imagine was that the cello grew my heart, and I ended up graduating with the cello as my main instrument.
I started my first class with Professor Ana Moreno, who later became a great friend. What I learned from her was beyond music.
One of the obvious differences between the piano and the cello (which at the time was not so obvious to me), was that on the piano the tuning does not depend on the performer. On the other hand, in the cello, and in all bowed string instruments, the tuning is determined by the musician. The piano requires defined skills of coordination, technique, movement, breathing, relaxation, among other things, but it does not require the player to “tune” the piano while playing it. To tune in a piano, a specialized technician is required.
Ana, in her wisdom as a professor and as a human being, told me that before listening to the note on the cello, it was necessary to listen to the note in my interior. Only by having a clear internal reference, I could differentiate when it was in tune and when it was out of tune. No problem! – I thought…
In order to tune the cello, I had to pay close attention to how its strings sound when properly tuned. And I realized that for me, it was not that easy. The four strings that the cello has are different notes. In musical terms, they are in fifths. When the strings are properly tuned, I discovered a sense of rest, a balance that made it difficult for me to even hear the two strings, because I heard them as one. And of course, when the strings were not well tuned, that rest or balance disappeared.
The interesting thing is that it took me a long time to learn to tune the cello well, because I couldn’t hear the correct tuning. (my ear was not trained to hear so much detail) But I could feel it. Furthermore, when the strings were well tuned, the cello vibrated widely, literally making my heart vibrate, because to play the cello, you have to be seated, balance the angle of the instrument with your legs, while the back rests in the center of the chest, slightly to the left. That’s how the cello stole my heart.
On a day-to-day basis, our bodies are the instruments we have to interpret the music in our lives. How in tune or out of tune is your instrument? How does your instrument sound?
Perhaps, what happened to me with the cello could happen to you. I couldn’t hear the correct tuning, but I could feel it to the heart. The cello vibrated so much with the proper tuning that the vibration was transmitted to my entire being. Although I couldn’t always hear the tuning, I could feel it.
When was the last time you felt your heart, your body, your being vibrate?
When I wanted to answer that question for the first time, I realized that I had to pay detailed attention to myself, to be honest and not idealistic.
When starting to learn an instrument like the cello, it is normal that the first attempts sound… not so good. When I was learning, I remember my brother saying that my cello sounded like a cow.
How does the music of your life sound?
Each of our bodies are the instruments of the orchestra that God, the Divine Conductor, is leading
What can you do to discover if you are in tune with the love of God? Perhaps this can help you:
1. Allow a moment and space in your day to be with yourself, observing and relaxing your breathing (God gives you life through it).
2. Recognize that God is also within you.
3. Without judgment, with curiosity, reverence and respect, explore the sensations you experience.
4. After a few moments, gather your observations. Does your being vibrate?
If you would like to have a group experience of exploring the tuning of your being, I cordially invite you to the workshop “The Contemplative Dimension of Music.” Thanks to the Center for Religion and Spirituality at Loyola Marymount University.
October 14, 21, 28, November 4 and 18, 2023
St. Robert Bellarmine Parish, Burbank, CA
9:30 AM – 12:30 PM
You can register here:
https://registration.
If you’re not in tune, it’s not necessarily that you sound like my brother said when I was starting learning on the cello, like a cow. But I do assure you, that when you seek to tune yourself, and make the necessary adjustments, and
When you find your attunement in the love of God, your heart, body, your entire being, will vibrate, and it will move you so much that that love will resonate beyond you.
With practice, intention, attention and perseverance, I did learn to tune the cello. And the cello taught me how I can tune my heart.
Looking forward to getting tuned in together in God’s love,
Marisol
Or as I was called in undergrad,
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