No matter what your beliefs, the way the universe sometimes lines up is so mind-bogglingly inspiring. Even at dramatically different sizes, the moon can eclipse the sun perfectly. A signing meaning to that is way above my pay grade, but I am qualified to talk to you about a little bit of magic that lives here.
Within every note we have a harmonic series. The note you’re hearing is a D. The relationship of G and D is so profoundly beautiful it keeps me up at night.
Of chorus it’s not G and D particularly, it’s any perfect fifth. Moving up the keyboard in perfect fifths, guided by the harmonic series, reveals a profound and beautiful brightness. But these two notes share another relationship.
If you invert their polarity and move the D below, you’re left with a perfect fourth. Moving in this polarity is akin to thinking in flats instead of sharps. It’s equally beautiful but darker and more mysterious.
Fourths and fifths, they have an unparalleled relationship with one another. In music we call this perfect versus plagal and it means that either chord can resolve to the other. In the perfect cadence, the five resolves to the one.
The plagal cadence is sometimes called the amen chord and the four resolves to the one. And to that, can I get an amen? And if this post inspires you to make something beautiful, consider joining a Beat Kitchen class or share it with someone else.
