What Is the Feeling?

One of the many talents of Leonard Bernstein’s was his ability to explain/have a discussion about the complexities of music to anyone.  You didn’t need to have a degree in music to get what he was saying.  All you needed was the love for music and the desire to learn more.

Below is a clip from The Unanswered Question – Six Talks at Harvard by Leonard Bernstein.  In this clip Bernstein discusses what might Beethoven might have been feeling or what story he might want to convey when writing the piece featured on the clip.  After watching this, I had a different/deeper appreciation for the music.  So I ask you, what feeling are you trying to convey when you write a song?  More to that, what feelings do you think a songwriter is sharing when you play his/her song?  Think about that next time you play, you might find a new, maybe better way to approach a song.