Today I did a fun experiment with piano chords. I played all the notes of the octave with the following list of chord types and wrote down any feelings or mental associations I had.
Here's the list:
Major: Typical, normal, “according to spec”
Minor: The Buddhist word dukkha fits perfectly here
Diminished: Bad surprise, misfortune
Augmented: B-Movie weirdness just happened
Dominant Seventh: Uncomfortable family reunion, a crowded room
Major Seventh: Intelligent conversational, thoughtful, Wednesday afternoon off work, “We can figure this out”
Minor Seventh: Metro, slightly upscale, Volkswagen Beetle, shopping uptown on an overcast day
Diminished Seventh: Caught in a conspiracy
Ninth: Public transportation, public services
Major Ninth: A crush, the part in the book when the plot thickens
Minor Ninth: Fighting back tears (of joy or sorrow), the results came in but there are still questions
Eleventh: Thicket of thorns, tangled
Minor Eleventh: Reading the todo list of a wedding or other big event
Thirteenth: Collapse of civilization, something magnificent is going to happen
Major Thirteenth: Weighty negotiations, legal documentation
Minor Thirteenth: Even more so the law
Sixth: A polite conversation
Six-Nine: When an unexpected disclosure is made during the conversation
Minor Six-Nine: The disclosure is not received in good faith
Fifth: Definitive, resolute
Suspended Second: “Don't be alarmed”
Suspended Forth: “I think I understand now”
Add Forth: Parental guidance, Ikea assembly instructions
Add Ninth: Disappointment, mixed results
Analysis:
A few of my answers uncovered some repressions regarding relationships (dating and marriage) and the responses as a whole indicate a general sense of uncertainty. If you've read this blog lately you can probably figure out why.
Anyway, give this experiment a try using these chord formulas and abbreviations and Note Kitchen. You'll learn about yourself and the various chord types, if you haven't already.
P.S. If you like this kind of stuff, check out Critical Stimulus, a psychoanalytical tool I designed based on Carl Jung's Association Method.
Meditation
Time meditating today: 0 ... It was my day off, so there's really no excuse
Quality of meditation (out of 10): 0
Practice
Minutes on the keyboard today (out of 40): 20 minutes
Quality of practice (out of 10): 5
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