Change A Note, Change The Chord--Victor Wooten

It's a pretty obvious statement at first glance.  Chords are made of up of certain notes, and every combination of notes forms a different chord. F-A-C-F form an F chord.  Change the A to  A-flat (Ab) and you have an A minor chord.  Change the F at the top of the chord to an Eb and now it's become an an F minor seventh (Fm7), and so on.  Each chord has a different sound, but also a different kind of "feel" or "mood."  If you play an F on the piano and play the E right next to it the notes will clash and sound irritating, but if you go back to that F chord and replace the top F with the E next to it, you'll have the lush sound of a major seventh chord (FM7) and it you play them one at a time you'll hear the recognizable opening notes of "Colour My World," by Chicago.

Each change of note changes the name of the chord, but far more importantly it changes the mood of the chord and how and where the chord might be used.  Minor chords sound dark and somber, while complex jazz chord may sound enticing or confusing, depending on the context and listener.  Learning how to listen to a wide variety of chords and find the beauty in them is a challenge for many of us, and everyone has his or her own preferences.  Still,  learning how to hear chords we find unfamiliar can be a wonderful growth edge for any of us.

Okay, enough music theory and music appreciation.  Here's the reason for writing this.  Bass genius, Victor Wooten swirls together music and life in his novel, The Music Lesson, causing me to think about how "Change One Note, Change The Chord" applies to life.  Change one person, one circumstance, one detail in my situation or yours and the "chord" of your life changes too.  Maybe the easiest way to think about it is to imagine a situation where as you add one cranky person, the "life-chord" becomes minor.  Remove the dark note and life is cheerier again.  An old song becomes new again.  This makes sense to me on many levels.  Can I be a note that adds richness to chords around me?  As I play the music of life can I listen to all the notes that are being played and hear the beauty?  Can I change the notes and hear something new, something vibrant?  If I hear a note that clashes with mine, can I find a new octave for mine, so that I hear something melodic?

Can I change one note and change the chord?

One more thought...Jesus, the most beautiful note of all, has changed the chord of humanity, bringing into our lives the heavenly harmony of the Great Composer.