« Sunday night I spent the | Main | Well, I just posted a »
November 28, 2001
Sunday night, after Andre went
Sunday night, after Andre went to bed, Jim and I started watching a program on PBS called Howard Goodall's Big Bangs. It is about the evolution of music. The episode we were watching talked about the invention and development of notating music. This sparked an interesting conversation about what music is and whether or not it can truly be notated effectively. I remarked that music is the perfect medium because it is the complete integration between art and math. I think this is largely true. Jim, while not disagreeing with that idea, was certainly critical of it. He thought that our conventional notation of music limits our ability to create it within those very narrow rules. He mentioned our perception of notes as high or low. Maybe they are left or right (...or even green and purple or something else.)
The whole conversation got me thinking. When we sing,we shouldn't try to reach high or aim low...that most likely produces a forced and unpleasing sound and that is not fun at all, either for the singer or the listener. I have a very unconventional voice. It is probably "lower" than most women and that is so frustrating for me. I spend a lot of time and energy trying to fall withing the conventional realms of what music is. Maybe it is time to change that.
I suppose in the end we are both right. Music is a wonderful meeting of art and logic but I think that is only the beginning. I have heard so many musicians that were sub par because, although they got all the notes correct; hit all the marks perfectly, their performance and their music was inevitably listless and uninspired. By the same token, artistic souls that don't understand the logic of music often sound just as dull. Maybe music,within the framework of math, holds secret a wealth of possibilities; of unknown quantum theories and undiscovered multi-dimensional models that we just aren't trying to find because we are so afraid of breaking out of the box of conventional wisdom. Maybe we don't even realize there is anything outside of the box. Well it's something to think about at least.
Posted by mermu at November 28, 2001 02:25 PM
Comments
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)