Sing Song Summer

From the wild whirling springtime wind that makes the house clatter and bang, the buzz of the drill and the chatter of tradies from the house next door, to the vroom vroom of the postie's bike as it roars down the street...the world is full of sound at my house today. We who live in cities and towns have become used to sounds, and after a while, it's just noise. But if you stop and listen, really listen, and imagine what it is like to hear those sounds for the first time, it's possible to find a kind of music. You can even play games with sound - hey, there's a crow calling in a mournful way "craw... craw". Call back to him! Will he call again? Driving in the car on a rainy day, listen to the windscreen wipers: can you count the seconds between each one? Exactly?? Now try the indicator: tick ( 1,2,3 ) tick ( 1,2,3 ) tick ( 1,2,3 ).

And when sounds just pop into your head in a sort of musical way, that's my favourite kind of game, and it happens best when I'm walking along the beach, with not too many people about. You could try the beach at Breamlea, or Johanna Beach in the Otways. The music just comes into my mind and I start to hum, and before long I'm composing entire symphonies or film soundtracks, and I've walked so far I can't see my beginning when I look back.

So, over the summer holidays, spend some time with your ears tuned in to the wonderful world of sound, then hum, ooo, and la la la in response as you set your musical imagination free.