My students taught me that when a pop song
Elicits certain feels, it’s appropriate
To say, “That’s a mood.” They’re not wrong.
Frequency relationships arranged commensurate
With time have that effect. I taught my pupils
That ostinato means a note gets played
Over and over, and when a composer puts duples
and triples together, that’s how tension gets made.
We long for a different note to sound. Our guts
Catch or want to undulate the mismatched beats
Out of our limbs. In ancient well-worn ruts
Our neurons wheel, and the song repeats.
My brain has practiced that–dissonance rehearsed.
With humble harmonies I’m getting better versed.
