Another mindful calligraphy basics exercise with a bit of fun. With some imagination ascending and descending loops look like music notes. We will use this to have some fun with our practice.
We will practice our ascending and descending loops and write some music at the same time. Sounds fun, right?
And no, you do not need to have any musical knowledge to complete this exercise. You can just google some sheet music and use that as a reference. Try to choose a piece with notes that have stems. A whole note, for example, is just an oval and does not have a stem. As long as most notes look like ascending or descending loops, it’s ok.
Choose whatever song you’d like; one that makes you happy, fits your mood, or just a simple one to start with.
Don’t forget to go slow and focus on your breathing. Just enjoy what you’re doing.
Btw, for this exercise, I chose a simple nursery rhyme that I used to play on my recorder in primary school. Do you know which one?
This afternoon, you can find a small video of this exercise on my Instagram @thecreativecooldown
Supplies used:
Smooth dotted bullet journal (Archer & Olive), brush pen (Tombow fudenosuke hard tip), fineliner no. 5 (Micron), rolling ruler (Leniar).
Alternative supply suggestions:
If you don’t have brush pens, it is still possible to do the exercise. Just grab a regular sheet of paper and a pencil. With a pencil you can make the thin and thick strokes as well. Really, I have tested this.
You can use a regular ruler to draw the lines for your staff.
Instructions:
1. Choose a song and google the sheet music. Draw a staff (the five lines on which you will draw your notes), a clef (symbol at the beginning of the staff), and the time signature (numbers after the clef, that describe how the music is to be counted) and the bars (lines that divide the music into separate parts).
2. When the head of the note is at the bottom of the stem, we can practice our descending loop. Start by slowly pressing down hard. Make sure to breathe out when you do this.
3. Slowly release the pressure on your pen when you curve upwards. Don’t forget to breathe in when you go up.
4. For notes with their heads at the beginning of the stem, you can use an ascending loop. This time you will start with the loop. Slowly curve up lightly and breathe in.
5. Then slowly press down hard to create the stem. Breathe out when you go down.
6. Continue with all the ascending and descending loops in your song.
7. Now you can add details. Add flags or dots to your notes, if necessary. Color your loops black for quarter notes. Add rests and whole notes.
8. Now you have practiced your ascending and descending loops and wrote a song at the same time!
If you liked this exercise, you might like my mindful oval basic stroke exercise in a strawberry as well.
