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Music Lane It's all about the music, dude! Sit down, relax and listen to some tunes. |
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Music Lane It's all about the music, dude! Sit down, relax and listen to some tunes. |
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In Reply to: I think you're assuming that classical harmony & melody are somehow innately natural posted by k-k-k-kenny on March 11, 2011 at 15:53:37:
Not to be argumentative, and I see where you are coming from, but...
It was once suggested to me (OK, I actually heard it in a college lecture, but I regarded it only as a suggestion, arrogant little tyke that I was) that it is not so much that non-Western music or at least some of it starts from a different "nature" (because phenomena such as the octave and the minor third are in fact natural phenomena--birds don't have to take lessons in singing a minor third) but rather because non-Western musics reject the Western solutions to "how to write a piece of music" as too simplistic. And it was the groping past do-re-mi, the attempt to square the circle, that eventually gave Western music its amazing dynamism.
Two excellent examples are the refined (really to the point of precociousness) tonality of the pre-modern Gamelan of the Balinese royal courts, and the rhythmic sophistication of early Indian music. These are not "natural" musics but rather highly stylistically refined, highly developed musics that were developed and performed for an upper class that was much farther above the people they ruled than almost any European ruler.
Long story short, it isn't foolish as far as I am concerned to suggest that had you pounded out the opening of Beethoven's Fifth on a piano to a court Gamelan or Raga composer of 200 years ago, I am sure they would have been polite, but they would probably be thinking, that is so primitive and obvious and ultimately stupid. Because their music was not "natural." Whereas the Western music of the time, with lots of octave and minor third harmonies, in fact was closer to natural phenomena.
Cheers,
JM
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Follow Ups
- May I offer a different perspective? - John Marks 16:54:54 03/11/11 (3)
- Of course you may, John - k-k-k-kenny 21:26:21 03/11/11 (2)
- "Those who play and habitually listen to these things don't seem to notice the gross errors…" - David Aiken 23:14:28 03/11/11 (1)
- Couldn't agree more - k-k-k-kenny 17:33:23 03/12/11 (0)
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