As I listen to certain pieces of music, I experience an internal expansion, a feeling that my heart is going to jump right out of my body. I sense spirit speaking through the music directly to me.

Music can bring sadness, a longing for that which I can’t name. It makes me…..homesick.

Then a few seconds later, the music makes me want to jump and sing and dance for joy.

It can make me think deeply. It can bring me into a meditative state. In listening to music I can drop the barriers and admit a truth that I have been denying.

These feelings traverse centuries of music, all different styles and all different genres;. anything from R and B to jazz to opera to pop. The feelings can evolve from listening to music or from creating music.

Because it’s us we’re getting in touch with. We’re accessing our hearts, our sadness, our joy, our truth.

It is consciousness rising.

In classical music dynamic markings are noted in Italian and each word has a very specific direction for tempo or volume. But what if we took those musical terms and applied them to life?

Tacet means silence or rest. In music a rest creates a feeling of anticipation. In life, we often have periods where there seems to be no forward motion. (Had one of those weeks just last week!) Our focus is contemplative and inward, and uncomfortable feelings can arise. But stay in that place because there are jewels to be anticipated!

Ad Libitum literally means at liberty or freely. In music this direction allows for musical liberties to be taken. In life, we are free to choose the tempo of our forward motion.

Poco a poco means little by little. In music this refers to a step by step change in tempo or volume. In life we also change little by little. Otherwise it’s overwhelming. “Poco a poco” living can help us integrate our ability to listen to our inner guidance with our ability to choose our actions.

Moderato means to take the music at a walking pace. Before we run, we learn to walk. Though others around us may be running and appear to be ahead, remember the tale of the tortoise and the hare. Honouring our own pace makes it almost impossible to dis-empower ourselves through comparison to others.

Accelerando in music means to increase the tempo – which increases the excitement. As life gets faster it’s vital to stay focused in the now. As in white water rafting all one can do is stay very present and enjoy the ride. Sooner or later calmer waters return.

Vivace (vih-vah-chay) in music means quick and lively. In life it means being excited and full of life. When we have welcomed the moments of silence, the walking forward little by little and the speeding up, we reach the excitement.

Da capo means back to the beginning to repeat. Have you ever felt after a peak experience that everything in your life is completely different and yet it’s completely the same? The principle of da capo in life is expressed beautifully by TS Elliott. “We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all of our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.”

Who has not experienced sweaty palms, rapid heartbeat, shallow breathing, and a quivery voice before a performance of some kind? Performing in front of a crowd can bring on all those things and more.

When the American flight program was in full swing, I read a news article about a particular space launch. The article described the monitoring of life signs for one of the astronauts during one mission launch. Despite the momentous occasion, the astronaut had no increase in heart rate, even during the last minutes of countdown. I was horrified by the story and remember wondering if the man was actually a robot.

Now that I understand more about the mind/body connection, I know his experience was not only possible but desirable. During his training, he participated in simulation after simulation. When it came to the real thing his subconscious mind was so used to the procedure that he was able to perform as calmly as if it were no different than a simulation. The subconscious mind will do our bidding, whatever that is.

It’s possible for all of us to use the ability of our subconscious minds for our purposes. If you are in a musical performance, of course it must be prepared from a technical and memory standpoint. But then there’s the rest of the story.

Here is a step by step process for mentally and emotionally preparing for a presentation or musical performance.

Step 1: Know your reason. Have a clear picture in mind about the ‘why’ and develop this picture at least a month before the event.

Step 2: Write a list of your achievements. Start as far back in your past as you like. Write down that you were valedictorian when you were in grade 8; that you were chosen to sing a solo for your church; that you wrote an award winning story; that you have a talent for making people laugh. Put down anything and everything that comes to your mind and spend a few minutes a day for two or three days adding to the list.

Step 3: Once you have your list, sit quietly for a few minutes and review it. Do this several times. How do you feel? Does it feel pretty good? Excellent! You are going to use that feeling for the next step.

Step 4: Decide how you want to feel after your presentation or performance. How does it feel to visualize yourself receiving congratulations or smiling and thanking people for the compliments? How about just having that feeling inside that you did well?

Step 5: Now write a vision for your performance and describe everything. What do you see in the venue? What are the sights and sounds you will experience? Do a script and make sure it’s in first person and present tense. EG, “I am calm and focused. I see people applauding and appreciating my performance. I bring the house down!”

Step 6: Once you have your vision run it like a movie several times a day. Start your visualization by doing some focused breathing or listening to some relaxing music. Then when you have become centered, run the mental movie. You may not actually see the movie, only impressions of feelings. You may want to speak it out loud, tape it or just think about it. It doesn’t matter, just do it whichever way works for you.

Step 7: Each time you have a negative thought, turn the thought around. “Who’s going to want to hear me?” becomes “MY performance is going to touch at least one person and I don’t have to know what or who.” Turn all those thoughts around.

Step 8: As you’re waiting for your cue, breathe. Stressed people breathe shallowly. Breathe slowly and deeply as you wait to go on.

Step 9: Enjoy it when your vision of the event becomes reality and people ask you for your autograph!

Justin St Vincent is editor of the music webzine XtremeMusic, and an experienced DJ, producer and music journalist.

For his book The Spiritual Significance of Music he has obtained exclusive interviews with one hundred and fifty authors and over five hundred musicians. In order to explore the relationship between music and spirituality he asked each of them one simple question: “What do you believe is the spiritual significance of music?”

The responses of many of the world’s most visionary artists and writers provide a unique insight into how we understand and respond to music in the context of our changing and challenging world.

For more information about this unique project visit Justin’s website.

The process of receiving inspiration for songs is fascinating and mysterious.   Sometimes songs arrive like they’re trains running behind schedule. They rush in with fanfare and fury, and if we don’t move quickly they’ll leave the station without us.  In those moments I scramble for paper and pencil to get the idea down before I lose it.  I’ve written complete songs in less than an hour feeling like I’m merely the transcriber.

At other times inspiration sneaks in like a shy friend and I hardly notice it at first.  Even though I’m aware there’s something buzzing around in my brain, unless I give my attention to the quiet voice it might just as easily sneak out again. 

Inspiration can arrive like a dripping tap.  A new word here, a chord change there.   I’ve had songs arrive in installments like this and take weeks to write.  Drip, drip, drip.

Right now I have a song in search of a lyric.  I’ve been playing the song with its harmony and its melody for weeks, expecting the lyric to arrive any day now.   Nothing!  I don’t even know what the subject of the song is.

Some songs arrive with attitude with a capital A.  They demand entry into my consciousness and will not be ignored.  They insist on waking me up in the middle of the night, and force me out of bed to write them down.  Okay, okay, OKAY!  Then once I’ve written down however much is delivered, they benevolently allow me to go back to sleep.

Inspiration never follows a pattern. It never allows us to be complacent. We can only accept that inspiration happens.  Our part is to be present, to listen and to play our part in the co-creation.  That’s the mystery. Would we want it any other way?

“What do you believe is the spiritual significance of music?”

Ah! An interesting question I was asked this week. How does one describe something so indescribable? Seems I’m going to try anyway.

As a singer/songwriter immersed in writing a new song, I perceive no separation between music and divine spirit. Creativity means spirit is speaking directly through me, and the essential me is more present in those moments than at any other time.

As the world moves faster and faster our souls are longing for those moments of divine connection both within and with others. In moments of fear and anxiety it’s easy to perceive other people as being separate from us or even a threat to our well-being. Sharing the universal language of music moves bodies, joins the beating of our hearts, melts boundaries, and gently awakens our awareness of Oneness. It moves us to deep feeling, inspires us to our best creative work, and merges deeply with our souls to renew us. When we open ourselves to the experience we cannot help but be changed.

It matters not whether we are the composer or the listener, the singer or the dancer. Whatever our role, we are of equal importance in the equation. Whether we compose or listen or sing or dance, the music inspires us to make the inner shifts toward joy and fulfillment. When music moves us to say, ah, I see more clearly, I know what that means in my life, we are touching our own divine essence.