Negative Space in Music

We often hear about negative space in context of design, graphic design especially. Negative space in design associates with elegance and clairvoyance, usually associates with foresight of underlaying potential in the void of space and making it matter by association and relativeness to what surround it. In music it could be nothing short of the same extra ordinariness. It requires insight and breadth of sight simultaneously. Negative space or the silent moments if utilized with vision can make the music shine through, pop, resolve, suspend, or clarify a statement of balance and storytelling that is universal. When negative space is not used, things could get overwhelming and cluttered. The rest is important. Silent makes loud moments feel even more powerful. Art is about tension and release that pulls our emotion in the yard and plays with it. Negative space plays a great role in both escalating or deescalating tension or release factors. In jazz, funk, and hip-hop music, space between notes define groove. Syncopation and off beat accents rely on negative space to create swing and feel. Phrasing impact and over all feel happens in the breath of space. The in of pressing against the instrument, the out of releasing the stroke and the in between fragments of time. Space is dynamic. Negative space helps instruments and voices stand out. Negative space is not just empty, but an active component of the music shaping its course of meaning.