♫♩♫♩Broken Chords♫♩♫♩

In case you're not a musician, let's first take a look at what a Broken Chord is.  First, what is a chord?  A chord is defined as 3 or more notes played together as an element of harmony.  A broken chord contains the same notes as a "stacked" chord, but they are notated differently.  Notes of a broken chord are written as separate notes on the staff, and played as such.  In the illustration above, it's easy to see the notation of the broken chords as well as some "stacked chords" in the first line of music.  
My purpose in this blog, however, is not to give you a music lesson.  This particular piece of music has special meaning for myself as well as my lifelong friend Galen.  When we were in college, this was one of several duets that we played together. 
Just the other day, another friend of mine, Marj, posted this on my Face Book timeline, not even knowing that I already had this blog post in mind!  You see, Marj and I also enjoy playing duets together.  
Music is meant to be shared, and as a musician, it's so very fulfilling to share your talent as part of an ensemble with other musicians.  It seems that the joy in music making is multiplied several times over when it is shared with others.

One of my life's purposes!

Back to the piece of music you see above, the theme from "Exodus".  In our travels this summer, we stopped to visit my friend Galen and while we were there, Galen dug out his copy of the music and we sat down and played together!  It was SO MUCH fun!  Of course, we were a bit rusty on this particular piece of music, but that did not diminish the level of joy we experienced playing together.  I value the time I spend with friends, and often Jerry and I will take the time to stop when traveling to visit friends and family.  
Friends have many things in common, life experiences shared, learning that is shared, wisdom shared.  For me, one of the most valuable gifts is when I share music in some way or another with a good friend.  Nothing can compare.  Whether it's singing in praise during worship, singing nursery rhymes with a grandchild, or even (as I did the other day) attempting to play an accordion that I am learning to play with a grandchild who is just learning to play the soprano saxophone!  It was quite a combination, and yet, so much fun to be sharing music together!
I like the way The Message translates these verses:

Not everyone is a musician, of course, but we all have gifts that are meant to be shared.  What is your special gift?  

**Click here for the rest of the blogs in this series, "Broken".