Shine or glow?
There are some interesting words in this English language. I learned recently that the word 'atrium' came from the latin for 'black' and 'room'. Seems that the first room one entered in a Roman house was the room where the fires were kept burning for heating and cooking, and the smoke from these fires blackened the walls. So the first room one entered from the outside was the 'black room' or 'atrium'. When I enter some of the soaring rooms of modern buildings the smokey residue of an open fire is the last thing I think about!
There are two words that I am mulling these days, 'shine' and 'glow'. There are so many similarities between these two that they are nearly interchangable in everyday conversation. But there are some differences.
If I want a piece of steel to shine I polish it. Polishing is a surface treatment that gradually wears down the scratches and pits until there is very little variation in the surface. You need a microscope to see some of the marks on the surface. The shine comes about when the surface is smooth enough to reflect light. A rough surface disperses light in many directions, but a smooth surface reflects all of the light at a common angle - giving us a glint that we perceive with the unaided eye.
If, however, I want a piece of steel to glow, I have to apply heat - and lots of it! The steel has to remain in contact with high heat until it absorbs that heat. In some manufacturing processes materials are heat soaked in some sort of oven before going into the high heat that produces the glow. Once the steel is hot enough it will glow even after being removed from the heat source. Until the heat energy stored in the steel radiates away, the steel will continue to glow.
The big difference between shine and glow is the source of the light. A shine is a reflected light. It is a surface phenomenon that occurs based on the environment; in a red environ the reflections will be red, in green environ the reflections will be green. A glow, on the other hand, is a radiation from within. By the color and intensity of the glow certain internal characteristics can be deduced, like the thickness of the material and the specific alloy.
If we are not sure whether we are seeing shine or glow, the simple test is to draw the blinds and extinguish the lights. When the light is removed the shine will stop, but the glow will go on.
I cannot help but shine a bit when I perform with other musicians. The light of their skills helps me see where we are going. Frankly, I'd be lost without it! The wavelength of their brilliance colors my own playing, too.
Neither can I help but glow with the heat that was applied by so many patient teachers for so many years. They are long gone, but the radiant power of their devotion lingers. You can hear it in the intonation and the rhythm and the melodic lines.
Shine. Glow. Two facets of life and music. Don't neglect either!
