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Agony Aunt
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I need a word for a title
This should be fun!Luftpause. It's a German word. Means to take a breath.
Yeah, I know. Not quite.
I'll keep googling. ;)
Jacquelynn wrote: "Katie wrote: "I'm busy (slowly) working on a new book at the moment. I have the cover finished (because I could!), but I still have no idea of a title. At the moment I'm using 'The Song Seekers', b..."I know what you mean, Jacquelynn. I found a great German musical term (not the one Patti found), but everyone would look at it and say, 'Huh?'
I've looked up every thesaurus I can find to find another word for 'inspiration' but nothing jumped out at me.
Hidden Harmony is a possibility. I'll add it to my list. Thanks!
Penseroso, means to play thoughtfully. And is a nice word to boot.
It is a nice word, but nobody would know what it meant...unless they'd studied music for a long time.
Grace Notes is nice, but Bernard MacLaverty has already used it (one of those books I found "worthy but dull"!) ;)
Andy wrote: "Kicked In The Crotchet?"Hmm, well, it would certainly get attention...but maybe not quite what I'm looking for.
Vibrations Of The Soul? or too self-helpy sounding?
I like 'Aeolian' which pertains to wind activity in geological terms but in music means played by means of wind. I don't think it's an obscure word. It's one I would use. But I'm odd!
Kath wrote: "I like 'Aeolian' which pertains to wind activity in geological terms but in music means played by means of wind. I don't think it's an obscure world. It's one I would use. But I'm odd!"That would be a really good fit if it weren't Greek. Could a fantasy world have Greek words? It's definitely going on my list though. In the story, one of the children mistakes the sound of the wind through the vents in the church steeple as the gods singing, so it would be a good title. Aagh, I hate decisions!
Marc wrote: "Vibrations Of The Soul? or too self-helpy sounding?"
Not too self-helpy, but not very fantasy either?
The Aeolia were also an ancient Greek people. Didn't Coleridge wax lyrical about an Aeolian Harp as well? Wind, music, the Classics and poetry. What more could you want in a title?
They have English words in. I don't see why they can't have Greek. An aeolian harp is one you hang up in a place where the wind blows - like the vents in a church steeple!
How about 'Soul of the Song'?
Or The Song Of Our Souls?
Jacquelynn wrote: "Here's another couple of alliterative titles: Silent Symphony, or Secret Symphony.It sounds the sort of book where the sound of the words should be attractive and musical themselves, so not cont..."
As with all my books, it's a children's book that I hope adults will read as well.
Another good couple of thoughts. Keep thinking! :)
Kath wrote: "They have English words in. I don't see why they can't have Greek. An aeolian harp is one you hang up in a place where the wind blows - like the vents in a church steeple!"
I do like it, but I'm not sure it's a word that goes with the story. :(
Gingerlily - Smiter of idiots. wrote: "How about 'Soul of the Song'?"I'm trying to avoid 'song' because I used that in my last book title. :(
well an air is both the stuff we breathe and a song/tune So maybe something around that?
It might not be quite what you're looking for, but 'quintessence' is a beautiful word and it's alliterative with 'quest'.
Richard wrote: "Consonance?"...and a vowel please Carol.
Andy wrote: "Richard wrote: "Consonance?"...and a vowel please Carol."
Not in the Welsh version.
Amanda wrote: "Lyrica or Vibrato?"Oooh I like Lyrica! :-)
Good to see you've all been thinking while I've been sleeping! ;) But...Lyrica is a drug for treating fybromyalgia, Consonance is literary rather than musical and Quintessence - a perfect word but...Rosen have you ever tried squashing a word that long into the width of a book cover?Marc, yes air would be a good word to include. I had thought of 'Beyond the Air', but I just wanted to see if I could find that one word that would sum up everything.
I see your point - 'Mr Splendiferous' was a nightmare.
Am I the only one that's thinking a few of these sound like names for sex toys?I'll go back to my corner now.
Ah, that's why you've gone that funny shade of pink?
This is so hard! Every word I've thought might work today, I've looked up on Amazon and there's already been at least one book of that title and nearly all with some raunchy cover I don't want to be mistaken for! :(PS. Sorry, Richard, I showed my ignorance yesterday. I'd not heard consonance used in musical terms, but I found it in a list today. (Imagine red face.) There is already a book called that - not raunchy.
Any mileage in some variant of aspire or aspiration? - aspiration is using the breath in speech (or singing) but you can aspire to anything - I believe!
I won't tell you what I had aspirated. Still makes me teeth curl thinking about it! ;)
Andy, you're determined, aren't you? :)I'll check it out Kath. I think it's sad that there is no word for that moment when you meet the soul of a piece of music. The English language is rather lacking. I have a friend whose Ethiopian adopted daughter has a name which is the Ethiopian (Aramaic?) word for the moment a flower opens. We don't celebrate those tiny moments with words, do we?
Maybe I should get Stuart to make me one up?
Aspiring - I think that's what I was after. You've just made me think of Terry Pratchett's The Last Continent, where they have a word for the smell after rain. You need a word for something as memorable as that!
Suspire also means breathe but I think I've only met it in the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.
Jud (Disney Diva) wrote: "Make one up yourself :o)"I just might!
There are lots of moments/feelings in time that need words. And yes, the smell after rain is one of them.
It works for some people. All the words to 'Adiemus' are made up. They just sound real!
What!? All your books are children's books!? But I've enjoyed them. My wife has been telling me for ages that I've entered my second childhood - it seems she may be right.'Aeolian' sounds like garlic sauce to me, but then I rather like garlic sauce.
How about 'Essence'? I know it's not musical - but I'll sing it if you like.
I really think you're overthinking this, Katie. Is your audience likely to understand whichever word you do, eventually, come up with?KISS, and all that! ;)
The Melody's Heart
At the Melody's Core
The Melody's Soul
Aeolian scale, that's a scale in A with no sharps or flats.I knew the word aeolian was familiar, I did one of my GCSE pieces in aeolian scale :o)
You're probably right, Kath, but it's like when you go out looking for a new dress and you've got a really good idea of what you want. You're never going to find it, but you can't bring yourself to buy anything else. I'll sleep on it for a while. Heaven knows, I'm not going to finish writing it any time soon.BJ, thanks. I didn't set out to write children's books...except The Dragon Box, but I tend to use young characters and write fairly simply, so I get put into that box whether I like it or not. Even Treespeaker has ended up there because the sequel is about a young character. One day I'll grow up! :D
I think it's a mode rather than a scale. From memory. But I'm old and rapidly wearing my memory out! It's slightly minor and melancholic. The aeolian mode, not my memory!
Aeolian mode sounds like something you'd find growing in your fridge! :PSorry, Kath, I crossposted with you a second ago and now we've flipped the page.
I'd say Puressence except there was a band named that.There is not only suspire and aspire, but respire and expire which all mean very similar things. Don'tcha just love the English language, despite its lack of poetic/metaphorical soul as alleged above
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The Dragon Box (other topics)Treespeaker (other topics)
It's a fantasy, by the way.
So does anyone have any suggestions for a single word that encompasses the quest to find the soul of something? A musical term maybe? (One that's not too long or strange, that is.)