With her series of word pieces Sonic Meditations, the U.S.-composer Pauline Oliveros proposed a way to cultivate community, self-awareness and emotional health through listening and music-making. Read the first five lessons that we are happy to publish exclusively.

Introduction I

Sonic Meditations are intended for group work over a long period of time with regular meetings. No special skills are necessary. Any persons who are willing to commit themselves can participate. The ensemble to whom these meditations are dedicated has found that non-verbal meetings intensify the results of these meditations and help provide an atmosphere which is conducive to such activity. With continuous work, some of the following becomes possible with Sonic Meditations: heightened states of awareness or expanded consciousness, changes in physiology and psychology from known and unknown tensions to relaxations which gradually become permanent. These changes may represent a tuning of mind and body. The group may develop positive energy which can influence others who are less experienced. Members of the group may achieve greater awareness and sensitivity to each other. Music is a welcome by-product of this activity.

I: Teach Yourself to Fly

Any number of persons sit in a circle facing the center. Illuminate the space with dim blue light. Begin by simply observing your own breathing. Always be an observer. Gradually allow your breathing to become audible. Then introduce your voice. Allow your vocal cords to vibrate in any mode which occurs naturally. Allow the intensity to increase very slowly. Continue as long as possible naturally, and until all others are quiet, always observing your own breath cycle.

Variation: translate voice to an instrument.

II

Search for a natural or artificial canyon, forest or deserted municipal quad. Perform Teach Yourself to Fly in this space.

Ill: Pacific Tell

Find your place in a darkened indoor space or a deserted out-of-doors area. Mentally form a sound image. Assume that the magnitude of your concentration on, or the vividness of this sound image will cause one or more of the group to receive this sound image by telepathic transmission. Visualize the person to whom you are sending. Rest after your attempted telepathic transmission by becoming mentally blank. When or if a sound image different from your own forms in your mind, assume that you are receiving from someone else, then make that sound image audible. Rest again by becoming mentally blank or return to your own mental sound image, continue as long as possible or until all others are quiet.

Telepathic Improvisation

To the musicians with varied or like instruments: tuning, each musician in turn sits or stands in front of the audience for a few minutes. The audience is asked to observe the musician carefully and try to imagine the sound of his or her instrument. The audience is instructed to close the eyes and attempt to visualize the musician, then send a sound to the musician by hearing it mentally. The musician waits until he or she receives an impression of a sound mentally, then he or she produces the sound. Members of the audience who have successfully «hit the target» raise their hands as feedback to the musician. After the tuning exercise, the musicians distribute themselves throughout the space among the audience members and utilize the following instructions:

Play only long sustained tones
Play only when you are actually hearing a pitch, or pitches, mentally
Assume you are either sending or receiving

If you are sending, try to visualize the person to whom you are sending. If you are receiving, listen for the sound and visualize the sender, The quality and dynamics of the tones you play may be influenced by your feelings, emotional or body sensations, or even impressions of colors, which might come from the audience members. Continue until it seems «time» to stop. To the observers: try mentally to influence the musicians by wishing for one or more of the following elements (the musicians are instructed to play only long sustained tones):

A. Focus mentally on a specific pitch. If you are sending, visualize the musician to whom you are sending. If you are receiving, listen for the sound which matches yours. Also visualize the musician.
B. Focus mentally on stopping o r starting a sound at a particular time.
C. Focus mentally on loudness or softness of tone production.
D. Focus mentally on the quality of the tone.
E. Focus mentally on an emotional character for the tone. This meditation is best done in very low illumination, or with eyes closed.

IV

Divide into two or more groups. Each group must have a tape recorder and be sound isolated from the other groups. The distance might be small or great, i.e., thousands of miles or light years. Each group then performs Pacific Tell or Telepathic Improvisation, attempting intergroup or interstellar telepathic transmission. A specific time period may be pre-arranged. Each group tape records its own sounds during the telepathic transmission period for later comparison.

Variation: instead of working in groups, each participant works as an isolated soloist.

V: Native

Take a walk at night. Walk so silently that the bottoms of your feet become ears.