Silence is the most powerful tool in music.
Oct 14, 2023
As a college freshman, I found myself slightly terrified and performing Chopin's Scherzo in B-Flat Minor in a masterclass (basically a public lesson with a guest pianist who had come to campus to perform a recital).
In that piece there's a moment where Chopin omits the first note of the opening motive and replaces it with a quarter rest.
In my excitement to get to the more virtuosic passages that followed and show what I could do (I was 17 after all), I blew right through the rest - didn't clear out the pedal properly and didn't give it it's full duration - just blatantly disrespected it.
The guest pianist kindly stopped me, set the score on the stand, pointed to that specific measure and asked, "what's the first thing you play in this measure - I'll give you a hint, this is a trick question."
Since my own teacher had likely already said something similar, and because he was kind enough to give me that hint, I realized what he meant and replied, "the rest."
Music is largely about well-placed contrast
...and one of the most contrasting things you can have in the middle of a wall of sound is....no sound.
From that point forward I started literally inhaling during important rests while I played - a technique that served me especially well when I started playing in small chamber groups with no conductor. All the players had to communicate with visual cues and "breathing" with the rests is an excellent way to do that.
But it's also something that has stuck with me as I entered the world of music production.
A climax is more powerful with a little space before it. Silence to climax is the ultimate contrast.
Oh no, he's making another organ playing analogy...
Yes, yes I am.
The organ doesn't respond to key velocity, so there's no way to accentuate a note by pressing it harder. We organists get around this by - you guessed it - putting a little space before the note we want to accent.
If you're an early enrollee in my Composition Course, you saw me rediscover this technique real-time in Module 3, pt. 4. There was a moment where I felt the build into the climax just wasn't powerful enough.
I experimented with a number of things and then discovered that what it needed was....nothing. At least, a moment of nothing/silence right before the climax so that it could have maximum impact.
If you're looking for a way to make something more impactful, back up and consider how you get to that moment. You might find that what it needs is....absolutely nothing.
Whenever you're ready, here's how I can help you:
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