The Time Vehicle: A Metaphor for Musical Space and Motion

When music begins, something larger than notes and rhythms begins to move—a vehicle of time, and we step inside. For me, this isn’t just a metaphor: it’s a sensory reality. I see and feel shapes moving through space, set into motion by the music. The piano becomes a launchpad, and sound becomes motion.

I’ve come to realize that when I teach, I’m not just guiding students to press keys—I’m inviting them to board something. Whether I’ve said it out loud or not, I’m helping them enter this moving world of sound-shapes and temporal flow.

Even beginners can ride. They may not know how to steer yet, but they can feel the forward motion. Advanced students sometimes glimpse the controls—they begin to affect the movement themselves—but I sense they’re only just beginning to explore the vehicle’s true dimensions.