If you can use scale intervals and sing them!

[elixzer]

Quite an event reading that for me. When I got to the second part and was reminded of that extremely moving piece Adagio for Strings, I stopped reading, went straight to Youtube so as to listen to it, and clicked on this video.
As soon as it began my eyes shut, head went back, complete body shiver, and I felt the whole front of my body kind of drawn foreward as though my skin was being pulled pore by pore..............This music encapsulates the sadness--awe-inspiring sadness-- of humankind and animals, all life
I also noticed how moved the conductor was, and was feeling very emphatic with him. It must be THE most emotional piece to conduct and you can tell from his whole demeanour

and yes, I cried

All memories came to me.
I had recently heard, today, of the most awful horrific murder of two French students, and how their parents had to sit in the trial and see the horrendous pictures of their loved ones mutilated bodies. In the paper it said that when one of the victim's body was shown, his girlfriend rushed from the courtroom in tears. And listening to this music made me imagine feeling the unspeakable grief she must feel. Where very life seems torn away from you. Ripped to shreds.........No, you cant put it into words, but this music feels this through you. Feels the unsayable...



As I read the piece I was also wondering about history of music, and prehistory---if by 'history' you mean Greek culture, and/or beginnings of writing

I think about indigenous music. How in Indigenous music there is the tradition of music, singing etc as being more even than emotional expression, but also as direct trance induction. Possession by music!

I am aware that traditional western music composition has, on the whole, had a begining, middle and end. Whereas for many indigenous traditional music there happens 'repetitions'---and how these forms were once was looked down on by some western classical purists etc, but have now been embraced by the young, and not so young and also now by many composers who have had classical training, and so on.

I love music. Its real heart is having no boundaries, and influences all other forms in a fractaling spiral of dynamic potential

[METOPERARETIRED]

I am so Happy that you discovered and experienced the Beauty of Classical Music.. You and everyome who loves Jazz owe it to yourselves to listen and "Hear" The Classics.. There is a difference between listening and hearing..

I have been lucky to have roots in Jazz and Classical Music, and I absolutely with much conviction say that if a Jazz player were to listen to all the past periods in Classical, he would hear and be totally taken into it's world, and it will share it's beauty / intensity / exhileration etal.. It WILL inspire your Jazz, for if it didn't there would not have been Gershwin,Bernstein,Kurt Weill,Darius Milhaud and dozens of others.. Here's a link to West Side Story.. Listen and Hear Bernstein's Genious Melodies and Chord changes.. You'll be amazed !
http://www.youtube.com/results?searc...Bernstein&aq=f

Western Music is "Alive and Well", you want me to tell you how and what is happening?
Ask me..

If you get OvationTV channel on your TV you should spend a great deal of time listening and watching Music.. You must see especially 2 series..

They are called "Howard Goodall's Big Bang" which in laymen's words coming from a brilliant Musician (Howard) and Historian who travels the world to discover the absolute truth of how Music began, and he takes you through it's evolution.. The 2nd series is called " Howard Goodall's Great Dates" and this series continues about the periods of Classical and in the last one I watched and recorded on my DVR, he takes us up to the period of Jazz composers / players like Ellington, Bird and many of the rest of those that we all admire.. If you do not get that channel you can as i did join Ovation TV: Make Life Creative and watch all that's offered, much of which is never before footage.. I watch them over and over and I thought that as a very successful Percusionist who was inducted into the International Percussive Art's Society how could I not know virtually everything there is to know.. I was wrong. Written with much humility.

I have a Master's Degree from N.E.C. in Music and have played for 5+ decades in Major Symphony Orchestras, and like many other great Musicians with formal training that I played with who thought we were taught all about Music History in school.. We were WRONG ! Teachers used tect books and they are not correct. NOT Correct!!

I am now back to my roots in Jazz after retiring from The Classics, and as you may know I am teaching myself both Jazz and Classical Guitar.. When I practice, most of the time I use no Music at all.. I know notes /chords/modality/harmonic ovetone series and virtually all there is to know (to date) about Music.. What I have to figure out on finger board is where I place my fingers, but inch by inch, anything's a cinch.
My method is to stop and 'think' where I want to take it and not just simply say that well this chord can go to these.. Boring!! In my mind I think of what I just played, and after pondering it, I wait without fretting about the fret board.. When using my personal creative imagination I sing it out loud and then I FIND IT.. That's Rewarding..

Repeatably, I think of a theme in the Classical repertoire and play it on Jazz Guitar.. In different ways so as to get the feeling you felt in your Heart when you listened to the " Adagio for Strings ".. It may be a slow or it may be fast. Musical Protocol is as old as Music, but Flexibilty of strict protocols is "Fresh"..

I actually find myself in tears much of the time which is not unusual, as good Musicians must be able to cry to express themselves in their playing.

I would suggest that you listen to Brahm's 4 Symphonies first and I'll have you winding up listening to Debussy and Ravel, just 2 composers in the impressionistic period of Music.. Next will come 5 tone row composers.. Google it up rather than my using many letters to explain how it works..

Music makes movies.. Jaws scary Music = Basses vamping 1/2 steps over and over and it scares the heck out of you.. Think of Schindler's list and hear how Itchaak Perlman's Violin makes you feel you were in the Holocaust Camps.. I am Jewish but one does not have to be Jewish to feel the inhumane torture of the ovens.. If you would like I can suggest what Classics have influenced Jazz.. One at a time..

I'll end this podt ( thank God Herb) by telling you that the movie 2001 A Space Odessy with the Tympani is actually the Richard Strauus tone Poem called ~ Also sprach Zarathustra which you can watch performed at this link below.. http://www.youtube.com/results?searc...q=1&oq=Also+Sp

So many Jazz instrumentalists play motifs and melody that most people do not hear.. Watch on you tube Dianna Kraal's Paris Concert.. It's on YouTube and hear her as well as Anthony Wilson whose playing I really love.. In their improv. you'll hear licks that are actually from the Classics..

Keep in touch, Okay?

Herb
some spelling may be wrong.. no big deal..

[elixzer]

Thosre links look really good, and I will check them out later.

I actually do love Classical music --and have a very eclectic taste. I had this group of friends some time back who were into --what-was-hip music, if you get me. And I would put on stuff I liked and it really disturbed them....lol

I have heard that a way that authorities try and make it so troublesome youth wont hang out at places, like for example, train stations is play classical music!
I am very aware of this, and seriously interested in the whys of this. I am aware for example that a lot of the modern 'hip' music as pushed by big moguls is very violent, misogynist, homophobic, materialistic... and builds images in the susceptable young listeners (and not so young), so..........when they then are exposed to other forms of music, especially deep music it tears away their masks and they fear it and flee

I saw the funniest thing a while ago. I really wish I had made a note of it, because if so I could find it at Youtube and link you'll to it. Is a little vague, I think it is an experiment in Holland or somewhere. We saw youths sat in an auditorium, and they played like musical, child-like music. Well...if you could have seen the expression on these youths faces, it was incredible. Really disturbed, uncomfortable...............I can't remember the purpose of this, but it is same thing I meant about the playing of classical music to gangs kind of thing

Another movement that totally incapacitates me in emotional intensity is from Mahler which I first heard in the film, Death in Venice

I cannot describe the feelings i get with this piece.............obviously..The sensitivity of it

The great Nina Simone, who was classically trained also very much emphasized the importance of classical music, and how it inspired her

[METOPERARETIRED]

Thosre links look really good, and I will check them out later.

I actually do love Classical music --and have a very eclectic taste. I had this group of friends some time back who were into --what-was-hip music, if you get me. And I would put on stuff I liked and it really disturbed them....lol

I have heard that a way that authorities try and make it so troublesome youth wont hang out at places, like for example, train stations is play classical music!
I am very aware of this, and seriously interested in the whys of this. I am aware for example that a lot of the modern 'hip' music as pushed by big moguls is very violent, misogynist, homophobic, materialistic... and builds images in the susceptable young listeners (and not so young), so..........when they then are exposed to other forms of music, especially deep music it tears away their masks and they fear it and flee

I saw the funniest thing a while ago. I really wish I had made a note of it, because if so I could find it at Youtube and link you'll to it. Is a little vague, I think it is an experiment in Holland or somewhere. We saw youths sat in an auditorium, and they played like musical, child-like music. Well...if you could have seen the expression on these youths faces, it was incredible. Really disturbed, uncomfortable...............I can't remember the purpose of this, but it is same thing I meant about the playing of classical music to gangs kind of thing

Another movement that totally incapacitates me in emotional intensity is from Mahler which I first heard in the film, Death in Venice

I cannot describe the feelings i get with this piece.............obviously..The sensitivity of it

The great Nina Simone, who was classically trained also very much emphasized the importance of classical music, and how it inspired her

You say some very profound things about human nature.. People so not want to indulge themselves in something they just don't understand..

In Classical Music you don't go to a Wagner Opera or A Strauus "War Horse" as we call the real HEAVY stuff.. Intoduction to Symphonic / Opera / Chamber Music has to be like this.. Start with seeing / hearing a Puccini Opera ~ Madame Butterfly, Tosca, Turandot, The Girl of the Golden West etc.etc.. There are melodies in those that will send you flying home, grabbing your Guitar and trying to remember the beautiful Arias and adapting them to your G.. Go to Symphony concert when they are playing Brahms, Beethoven, Mozat, Debussy, Ravel more ad infinity.. Listen and feel..

By the way you mentioned " Death in Venice ".. Alben Berg wrote the Opera Death in venice and in 1975 I had the pleasure with The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra to play it's North American debut..(trivia but true)..

Go to YouTube and ask for Madam Butterfly, or write in Puccini Operas, and listen to excerpts.. Ask for Darius Milhaud (Paris composer) who influenced so many Jazzers.. Why do you think that Bird, Dexter Gordon, and so many others speny so much time in Paris? They Love Jazz !!

Find Darius Milhauds " La Creation de Monde " ( The Creation of the word ). It's for a small Classical ensemble but it's Jazz..

When I've been in Paris I couldn't believe all the Jazz Clubs and hangouts for the ultra HIP Musicians.. Nice hearing from you..

Until later ~~~~ Later

[METOPERARETIRED]

Interestingly, yesterday I was playing along with some Aebersold backing tracks and got frustrated that I was playing the same arpeggio-based lines and was sort of letting the fingers take over. So, I started playing some sort of block chord "lines" (inversions and slides with rhyhtmic stuff) or just playing along with the pianist. It seemed to sound more "genuine" to me and I was actually having a ball!! Unfortunately, I tend to put a lot of energy when I play this sort of thing and the neighbors were not at all pleased.

Frank,
Here's a Great Site that you and all can spend days looking at, so I hope you all do ~~
Jazz Resources, Jazz Musicians, Artists, Singers, Jazz Ensembles, Performers, Education, Jazz Festivals - Music Resources, Internet Resources, SKDesigns

Let me know how you are doing with this wonderful journey into all Music!
Your Friend ~~ Herb

[franco6719]

Honestly, I don't know where to begin. I just read through this whole thread (much expanded since I last looked in) and found some high-quality discussion about classical music, art, and so on taking place.

Thanks for posting that article, Herb. Yes, I agree that music can, and should be, something infinitely more meaningful than mere entertainment like Nintendo or watching television. As the philosopher Neitzche often noted, it is one of the most powerful mediums of expression and the most
direct means of emotional communication that exist. Art, in general, is all those elements that distinguish one culture from another (or even one species from another). Someone once posed a hypothetical situation: life on earth had been extinguished and beings from some other galaxy or universe had arrived on earth. These beings are almost certainly more intellgient that we are and have learned all the laws of nature, physics, advanced technology, etc.. So what would interest them about human culture: our scientific knowledge (universal in nature and already known to them) or the uniqueness of our art? Art is culture-specific (at it best, individual-specific) and expresses things that no other culture can. There are no universal laws (or very few) and it is all about creation and subjecivity. What we leave behind us that is important is not our scientific knowledge (that can be regained , lost and then rediscovered at any time), but our art (no one will ever play THAT piece or that tune that SAME way again).


I am also a great classical listener and appreciater here (though I have never played it). Those two pieces, ironically, are also two of my favorites: the Adagio for Strings and the Mahler Symphony from Death in Venice. Powerful stuff.

So as not to drag this out too long, I will just say: I agree with Elexsir about the importance and power of classical and jazz music. I also agree that much of the modern stuff on radio is truly disconcerting, if not horrifying. I don't listen much to hip-hop, though I underetand there is good and bad, as with most things.

Finally, we should not go to far with all of this though. Elitism can be dangerous. Listening to and playing beautiful music, of whatever genre, does not make you into a morally better person. Music is not everything and one must not make art into a sort of religion. Always keep in mind that there were Nazis that used to listen to Mozart and Wagner and tear up for the wonders of Germany. They would then go out and slaughter people by the millions.

[jonasfixe]

Nice story, Herb.

Whether it is true or not, it surely clicked on me (don't take it wrong, but you are telling a story that you heard(?) a teacher say in a speech, that he had heard an old soldier tell him.... so along the way there can be some imagination, but nevermind!)
Anyway, although I think music should not be a religion, it is quite close to it, and sometimes has same effects than prayer...

Cheers

[jonasfixe]

. I didn’t understand why this was happening, why now, but then when you came out to explain that this piece of music was written to commemorate a lost pilot, it was a little more than I could handle. How does the music do that? How did it find those feelings and those memories in me?”

Well it happened also to Joe Pass:

[elixzer]

Honestly, I don't know where to begin. I just read through this whole thread (much expanded since I last looked in) and found some high-quality discussion about classical music, art, and so on taking place.

Thanks for posting that article, Herb. Yes, I agree that music can, and should be, something infinitely more meaningful than mere entertainment like Nintendo or watching television. As the philosopher Neitzche often noted, it is one of the most powerful mediums of expression and the most
direct means of emotional communication that exist. Art, in general, is all those elements that distinguish one culture from another (or even one species from another). Someone once posed a hypothetical situation: life on earth had been extinguished and beings from some other galaxy or universe had arrived on earth. These beings are almost certainly more intellgient that we are and have learned all the laws of nature, physics, advanced technology, etc.. So what would interest them about human culture: our scientific knowledge (universal in nature and already known to them) or the uniqueness of our art? Art is culture-specific (at it best, individual-specific) and expresses things that no other culture can. There are no universal laws (or very few) and it is all about creation and subjecivity. What we leave behind us that is important is not our scientific knowledge (that can be regained , lost and then rediscovered at any time), but our art (no one will ever play THAT piece or that tune that SAME way again).


I am also a great classical listener and appreciater here (though I have never played it). Those two pieces, ironically, are also two of my favorites: the Adagio for Strings and the Mahler Symphony from Death in Venice. Powerful stuff.

So as not to drag this out too long, I will just say: I agree with Elexsir about the importance and power of classical and jazz music. I also agree that much of the modern stuff on radio is truly disconcerting, if not horrifying. I don't listen much to hip-hop, though I underetand there is good and bad, as with most things.

Finally, we should not go to far with all of this though. Elitism can be dangerous. Listening to and playing beautiful music, of whatever genre, does not make you into a morally better person. Music is not everything and one must not make art into a sort of religion. Always keep in mind that there were Nazis that used to listen to Mozart and Wagner and tear up for the wonders of Germany. They would then go out and slaughter people by the millions.

Really strong insight there!

How is it that for some (many?) music can seem to encourage all forms of self granduer, elitisms, cruelty, and sadism?

With the Hip Hop example, well i Have this very good documentary video I will share link at end, where it clearly shows that the Hip Hop that is 'popular' has been contrivingly managed by mostly white very rich big boys.
So, for example, where you had social commentary at its beginings with such Hip Hop Artists like Public Enemy, soon the money is made to go to creating acts that incite all forms of materialism, misogyny, homophobia, and violence
So we have young artists who are wanting to express their selves, and also are needing money find that the 'state of the art' wanted is all that stuff.
And we have its listeners who think all that is cool, and begin living this false life copying false images!

Previous to this we have had say the Mafia hiring the best Jazz players for their clubs. They would enjoy such music and yet live lifes of utter violence, and like you say, in the Classical world we had the nazis into Wagner and what have you, dreamily listening and believing their myth of 'pure blood' and murder of millions!

Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes HipHop: Beyond Beats & Rhymes

[METOPERARETIRED]

Honestly, I don't know where to begin. I just read through this whole thread (much expanded since I last looked in) and found some high-quality discussion about classical music, art, and so on taking place.

Thanks for posting that article, Herb. Yes, I agree that music can, and should be, something infinitely more meaningful than mere entertainment like Nintendo or watching television. As the philosopher Neitzche often noted, it is one of the most powerful mediums of expression and the most
direct means of emotional communication that exist. Art, in general, is all those elements that distinguish one culture from another (or even one species from another). Someone once posed a hypothetical situation: life on earth had been extinguished and beings from some other galaxy or universe had arrived on earth. These beings are almost certainly more intellgient that we are and have learned all the laws of nature, physics, advanced technology, etc.. So what would interest them about human culture: our scientific knowledge (universal in nature and already known to them) or the uniqueness of our art? Art is culture-specific (at it best, individual-specific) and expresses things that no other culture can. There are no universal laws (or very few) and it is all about creation and subjecivity. What we leave behind us that is important is not our scientific knowledge (that can be regained , lost and then rediscovered at any time), but our art (no one will ever play THAT piece or that tune that SAME way again).


I am also a great classical listener and appreciater here (though I have never played it). Those two pieces, ironically, are also two of my favorites: the Adagio for Strings and the Mahler Symphony from Death in Venice. Powerful stuff.

So as not to drag this out too long, I will just say: I agree with Elexsir about the importance and power of classical and jazz music. I also agree that much of the modern stuff on radio is truly disconcerting, if not horrifying. I don't listen much to hip-hop, though I underetand there is good and bad, as with most things.

Finally, we should not go to far with all of this though. Elitism can be dangerous. Listening to and playing beautiful music, of whatever genre, does not make you into a morally better person. Music is not everything and one must not make art into a sort of religion. Always keep in mind that there were Nazis that used to listen to Mozart and Wagner and tear up for the wonders of Germany. They would then go out and slaughter people by the millions.

Frank~There is no Elitism in sharing knowledge unless others do not care about learning if only a titbit from a simple post.
As far as the Nazis.. I am a Jew born in 1939 and my Father got out of Poland just in time, and as a half first generation American and having to play the Music of Wagner,Strauss and other genecidal maniacs I am totally aware of Hitler's using Music in his camps.. Mahler was a Jew by the way..
In the Israel Philharmonic NO Wagner or Strauss was played until about 20 years ago..
If you want to hear Music, there is no better place to experience it as in the Mountains where the Birds of various types sing their songs and the pitch is perfectly 'right on the money' and influenced the temperament of notes as we know them years ago. If you go where Mother Nature performs (with a well tuned instrument) you will be amongst the true beauty of the Animals singing and the tall trees playing such complicated Rythms.. Even the wind is a part of this natural ensemble.. Incorporate all of these realities and you will hear the sounds that Impressinists like Debussy,Ravel,and many others attempted to replicate in their Music.. If you listen to just one of the impressionist's composition like 'La Mer', you can close your eyes and hear the Sea, perhaps a virtual Sea at that, but Imagination and being receptive La Mer will sound like the Sea..
'Pictures at an Exhibition' of Moussorgsky takes you through the Museum and at each viewing of different Paintings, it takes one into the Painting.
Here are some Orchestra Perfomances of Pictures..
YouTube - Pictures at an exhibition Orchestra Performance

Now here's one adaptation of pictures gor Guitar..

Jazz Concertos woth Orchestra and other genres with Orchestras below.
YouTube - Jazz Guitar Concertos with Orchestra

There is no Elitism to Humans who truly believe " That all Men are Created equal ", but there is sexual discrimination in those words..

If no one wants opinions and even perhaps doubts the credibilty of a member of a Jazz Forum, perhaps membership should be terminated..

I write to you because without having met or knowing you personally, I feel you are open minded and honest..

Shalom ~~~ Herb

[franco6719]

Herb,

No, I was not accusing you (or anyone on here) of elitism. I was not even necessarily saying that some kind of elitism is a bad thing. I was just basically warning that even music can be dangerous and used for destructive ends, like science, technology, etc...

Anyway, although I enjoy classical music, it disturbs me that there are people who think that it is the ONLY music. The same applies to same jazzers and so on. That's what I mean by elitism and the kind I am opposing.

[METOPERARETIRED]

Frank,

Please listen to the Theme from the Movie 'Schindler's List' played by Itzhak Perlman, a Virtuoso Violinist and composed by John Williams.. I watched it again today after years of not seeing it, and one can see / hear how Music influences and brings out emotions..
It is not a Religion, it is the only International Language, as people round the world respond to it's Words. It's words are the Music itself, and that means in a way it is synonomous to spoken words of beauty..

Itzhak, crippled as a Child from Polio lays on the floor with his Kids and listens to Rock and Jazz.. He is a friend, and he is as down to Earth as a Man can be.. click !

Now, please listen to this same Theme as played by Guitarists..
YouTube - Theme from Schindler's List Played on Guitar

John Williams, composer of Music for so many great movies ~E.T.~ Close Encounters ~ Superman ~ and so many that you probably know.

Trivia ~Years ago he was a Jazz Pianist superb, and played clubs and concert halls.. I used to turn on the Radio and listen to his groups and he did Club dates and recordings as well as playing in Jazz Concerts.

Elitist should not be used in converstions as it's not called for..

I understand what you meant, and I agree with you for the most part..

Enjoy the Beauty of this magnificent Theme and then hear it's transcription for Guitars..

Until later,

[wordsmith]

"......it is the only International Language, as people round the world respond to it's Words. It's words are the Music itself, and that means in a way it is synonomous to spoken words of beauty.." from Metoperaretired.


......here is a link to a guy who has written a book, 'How Music Really Works', which goes into quite readable detail about this kind of thing, specifically chapter one.....

How Music REALLY Works!, Chapter 1: What Music REALLY Is, Who Makes It, Where, When, Why

I downloaded some free material a few years back, in which he writes about how
we are all 'hardwired' for music at birth......regardless of creed, colour, or anything else.
Great stuff, I thought, and still do. I understood a lot of theory about frequency/overtone ratios after a single read. Lots of humour, too. I just checked his site, and six free chapters of the second edition are available for download.
Well worth a look, for any musician. The link is:


How Music REALLY Works!

Wayne Chase is the man's name. I remember he replied to an email I sent saying thank-you for the free stuff. Very nice chap.

[METOPERARETIRED]

Hi,
I just got your message and will check out the 2 links you sent..

If you travel to Southern USA, it's amazing that although you may be in Country/Bluegrass/New Orleans Jazz/ West Coast or wherever, hearing whatever, what you ingest musically remains with you somehow and may surface at a later date in your Music..

I'm not going to talk about my travels, as some people resent it for whatever reason, so I'll write about The New York Philharmonic's journey to NORTH Korea. Unheard of, but they went last year.

Chris Lamb, the Principal Percussionist with the NYP shared with me what he felt and others felt in one of the most dangerous places in the world in these times.. Personally, he felt somewhat uncomfortable in the Country. Who wouldn't?

In the concerts it was different he told me, as although at first the audience seemed to be rather cold, when the Orchestra played their National Anthem, sat down and the 1st selection was played, they somehow started to loosen up and indeed became totally taken in by the Music, which was carefully selected and did have some of indingenous themes from their repertoire, but also they applauded with much gusto for the entire performance..

In the far east, if an audience claps their hands in unison, ' they are very happy '. If they applaud like we do here, well it's more of a courtesy.. I have been to the far east on many occasions, and that's how all performers get to know and understand the different cultural protocols when it comes to Music..

Bottom line is as you know when you listen to any Music.
There is obviously a different reaction to Minor keys than Major keys. It seems to be in our genes.. Without getting deep into theory, it is proven that certain Keys are ' darker in nature ' than others.

This topic is heavy stuff but very interesting..

You can actually Google / YouTube up in this case, the N.Y.Philharmonic's trip that I mentioned as it was very well documented by CNN and other TV networks..

For now let me thank you for what I will look at later in those 2 links you mailed, and until another time, I will say have a great weekend.

[franco6719]

"......it is the only International Language, as people round the world respond to it's Words. It's words are the Music itself, and that means in a way it is synonomous to spoken words of beauty.." from Metoperaretired.


......here is a link to a guy who has written a book, 'How Music Really Works', which goes into quite readable detail about this kind of thing, specifically chapter one.....

How Music REALLY Works!, Chapter 1: What Music REALLY Is, Who Makes It, Where, When, Why

I downloaded some free material a few years back, in which he writes about how
we are all 'hardwired' for music at birth......regardless of creed, colour, or anything else.
Great stuff, I thought, and still do. I understood a lot of theory about frequency/overtone ratios after a single read. Lots of humour, too. I just checked his site, and six free chapters of the second edition are available for download.
Well worth a look, for any musician. The link is:


How Music REALLY Works!

Wayne Chase is the man's name. I remember he replied to an email I sent saying thank-you for the free stuff. Very nice chap.

I will certainly bookmark the site and check into it. Thanks for posting the links.

[elixzer]

I read the links, and had actually started a post about it last night. I had noticed that the author in one free chapter mentions a list of arists, includking Tom Waits who I love.
I thought I would share you all with a deep favourite of mine, from Tom Waits's amazing album Bone Machine, a song title That Feel

So, I immediately went to Youtube, because I have favourited a video of that song where you see powerful still images of Waits, and other...and I looked and looked. So I searched at Youtube, and nothing. Then I remembered that they have changed. Whereas before you could find so much variety of music videos, now they seem to be obsessed with copyright lawsuits and what have you. I even tried a site where you can find songs, but now they will only play thirty seconds of music audios, and that is what they did with That Feel.
Oh well, oh hell..............The good thing is that you can still find losts of interesting music at Youtube which you can share. Hope it lasts!

Back to the article links. The bit I didn't gell with is when he asserts 'music is biological, not mystical'. I have a problem with that assumption as it is very reminiscent of the very old and ongoing psychological split between nature and spirit, and in more modern terms body and mind, consciousness and matter/energy.

I have been very interested in this supposed schism for quite a while and see it raising its head in many diverse fields.

Water has often been used as metaphor, in art and ancient philosophies, like Taoism, to describe a reality that is both physical reality and the spiritual. And surely the same is so for music!
We hear of old folktales of people attracted to fairyland by the sound of music. And as I breifly mentioned in an earlier post, that in Indigenous tradition music goes even deeper than the average westerners understanding of the emotional effects of music. For music can actually possesses us and put us in a trance, and in this nonordinary state of being, the so-called boundary between what we think of 'physical' and what we think of 'spiritual' can dissolve.

I want to make it clear what I mean though. I dont mean music is wholly 'mystical' or wholly 'biological'. It is rather something else. Something you cannot pin down. You might as well try and possess water. If you try and contain it for too long it'll become stagnant.

[wordsmith]

I think by 'biological', he means that we are born with the necessary faculties to appreciate musicality. Everybody can hum a tune, in tune or otherwise. Even those not musically inclined start tapping their feet and move about to the music, instinctively.
The mystical aspect of music would be, I'd argue, one of the many ways that music can be interpreted and utilised. Of course, if Mr Chase is correct, it is to me absolutely mystical and mysterious that people are born with the musical circuitry. Like, humans could have evolved without it in some alternative evolutionary process. But we have it. And we can rock, and jazz, and dance and sing, and be in awe of people like Beethoven, and go to parties and have a jolly good time.

Hooray!

[elixzer]

I think by 'biological', he means that we are born with the necessary faculties to appreciate musicality. Everybody can hum a tune, in tune or otherwise. Even those not musically inclined start tapping their feet and move about to the music, instinctively.
The mystical aspect of music would be, I'd argue, one of the many ways that music can be interpreted and utilised. Of course, if Mr Chase is correct, it is to me absolutely mystical and mysterious that people are born with the musical circuitry. Like, humans could have evolved without it in some alternative evolutionary process. But we have it. And we can rock, and jazz, and dance and sing, and be in awe of people like Beethoven, and go to parties and have a jolly good time.

Hooray!

Yeah, Hooray !!!

Of course, not only people are born with it though....So are other species too, and the rocks, and ALL is vibration and sound.

The most important aspect of music is silence. Silence is the ground, usually not noticed consciously by many, especially novices. Space and form. Form into space, space into form (and no, I am not a Buddhist)...The way music disappears into silence and emerges from silence. And the sense of drama of space in music intervals

One of my favourite songs of all time is My Funny Valentine. It seems such a 'simple' song/tune and yet is SO full of meaning--for me anyhow

I love that part when it goes ...'is your mouth a little weak/ when you open it to speak/are you smart' the cut off/spaceafter 'smart' is just right, deceptively simple, like most of the classics are, but ever so complex too...and then it goes into the phase 'dont change a hair for me/ not if you care for me

It already starts 'you make me smile with my heart'... So human? Loving. And not obsessed with IMAGE...O MG!

My funny Valentine - Tony Bennett