Understanding intervals is the key to being able to follow, and more or less complete another's melodic thought
Find some stairs and get someone to read this to you while you follow the, er.. steps.
Mark it visibly somehow.
It’s where you started, and where you will end, one way or another.
It’s where your feet begin-where they are ROOTed. It’s the TONIC.
What letter should you state for this step? ………
- This time, envision the C as where you stand, see the D up a step, on the SECOND step.
- See the E up another step, on the THIRD step.
- See the F and G? Legs long enough to reach that FIFTH step, or is the FOURTH more comfortable? You choose, but if you can stretch (to) the FIFTH, you’ll feel as though you’ve accomplished quite a distance, and a good place to be for a few moments. If you prefer the fourth, you’ll also feel a sense of arrival and being, but see if you have an inclination to keep ascending, or maybe it’s a good step, that FOURTH, to sit down and rest and ponder. Maybe, seated on the FOURTH, your feet can comfortably reach the THIRD and SECOND step. Maybe you can stretch your legs and reach the floor, the FIRST/ROOT, as you lean back, look up at the ceiling a moment, and just let your thoughts wander.
- Take a single step down; you’re on the SEVENTH step from the floor now, and well, you can hang out there for a moment if you want, while you decide whether you’re going to start down a step at a time, two, three, or not symmetrical.
Let’s say you decide you want to take this staircase back down, two steps at a time, skipping a step each time..
Go back to the top, to the EIGHTH, and turn around to begin your descent again. This time, take the stairs down, two steps at a time.
- State C at the top, what letter do you land on if you step down by two, skipping a step between the top and where you land? Yep. “A”
- Step down again, skipping a step. What letter do you land on this time? F

You can land on that last step from the bottom, that SEVENTH from the top, it’s a D, by the way. But you can’t stay there. You’ll have to take a single step down to finish off and return to where you began. It’s up to you. You could also go from the F to the E, the FIFTH below the (top) ROOT, then skip to the C to get back home. Which fits your mood, which seems more like what you want to do? Lot’s of options – all work, but some are more comfortable than others, depending on previous choices. Comfort is harmony.
Comfort is harmony, but comfort is subjective. Sometimes, stretching is comfortable. Sometimes we have to have a solid plan to be comfortable, but sometimes we can be comfortable with indecision, spontaneity, moments of uncertainty (tension). In fact, existence without tension is incredibly bleh.
- Be it adventure, learning, love, or play – tension, in the form of what might happen next, challenge, uncertainty, or anticipation, TENSION is absolutely crucial to not dying of boredom (and effectively communicating reality).
Feel the steps, the spaces in between, as you move up/down/around the stairs. Feel your body’s inclinations, hesitations, preferences.