Tuning In

Huang Ruo is a composer who, as the April 14th New York Times notes, “writes music in which Western techniques and Chinese timbres, tunings and folk styles mingle.” Says Huang of his new cello concerto, “People Mountain People Sea”:

“…the slides and out-of-tuneness are everywhere…….You know, in China, we never talk about ‘in tune’ or ‘out of tune.’ I think it’s a very Western thing.”

You can hear a clip from Huang’s Divergence by going here: Listen for the sliding sound of a string instrument.

Huang’s notion of not being “in or out of tune” indeed struck a chord in me regarding Charlie. Rather than seeing him as an “out of sync child” who needs to be brought “in sync” with the rest of us, I learn a little more each day to tune in to Charlie and make accommodations—to sense when he is feeling cognitive dissonance, for instance and that you do not always need actual words to have a conversation. Every sound Charlie says, whether it is a word or a hum counts; Charlie’s actions and gesture are equally saying something to me. I just need to learn how to tune in better, to every frequency.