The Pulse

The Pulse

 "The sky was clear, remarkably clear, and the twinkling of all the stars seemed to be but throbs of one body, timed by a common pulse."

-Thomas Hardy

We are musical beings. We walk to a pulse 'left -right - left - right', we time our day to the pulse of a clock and our very body ebbs and flows to a pulse. Our planet has a pulse of night and day, the ocean breathes in and out and the stars align to a predictable rhythm.

So what is the pulse? If you've ever seen Star Wars then the pulse is something akin to 'the Force'. It is intangible but ever present, it is regular but changeable and is intricately linked to every aspect of our lives. The swinging of a pendulum or the ticking of a clock is an example of a pulse. The pulse appears to us to be regular and predictable.

In a piece of music the pulse is marked through the production of a sound and is typically what you tap your foot to or dance along with in a piece of music. The pulse is also called the beat. It is possible for us to feel when the next beat is coming and to join in with it.

Pulse is the foundation of rhythm and rhythm the foundation of music. "You can't have a tune without rhythm" (Wynton Marsalis). It is through sharing a pulse that we play music together and through understanding the pulse and practising that we can learn to love and enjoy the magic of this natural phenomenon.

May the pulse be with you.