TSG: 2009.08.1.1

JASON MARTINEAU - Musical Geometry

When many of us think about Sacred Geometry, it's usually in visual terms. As some of us know, music is composed by the arrangement of sound frequencies, and notes in a scale have geometric relationships. Berkeley resident Dr. Jason Martineau is a multi-discipline artist, who happens to be an outstanding pianist, composer, author, and Sacred Geometer. I had the chance to talk with Jason shortly after the release of his 'Wooden Book' on music, and we explored a lot of common ground (I am a composer as well).

WSF: “So Jason, I'd like to start by hearing a brief history of your life, and how you got to 'here'.”
JM: "I was born in Ithaca, NY, but I moved a lot as a kid (*Editor's note: Me too!), so I had a lot of different cultural experiences. As an only child with a single working mother, I had a lot of free time, and I think those experiences led to my open-mindedness toward life, which in turn, left me open to the metaphysical, spiritual, and of course my musical development.
WSF: “When and why did you start playing music?”
JM: "Well, my grandmother had a Steinway, and when I was 5, my aunt would come over and show me a few things. She would play a bass part and have me improvise over the top, and vice versa. I started playing by ear, and even though I did work off the John Thompson books, I was mainly mimicking the teacher, because playing by ear was easier for me."

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