The Oriental vs The West (Keys Version)
(The only art piece that I drew which had the keys in it lol) I was meddling with the keyboard the other day when I noticed something oddly familiar about playing only the white keys, and likewise, only the black keys. Maybe it’s because I’ve been hearing about the whole East-versus-West discussion for too long, or maybe it’s just my very limited keyboard skills, but the white-key combinations instantly reminded me of Western classical music, while the black-key patterns carried a distinctly Eastern, almost traditional sound. As I kept experimenting with different mixtures of black and white keys, it genuinely felt like I was listening to the intersection of East and West. Though, to be fair, most of it didn’t sound very harmonic until I finally played the proper notes together to form a cohesive chords. While my sister’s reaction to this revelation was, “Cathy, you do realise they’re only sharps and flats?”, I’m choosing to hold on to the melodic memories I’ve a...
