The Theory of Music -- ?

[Oscuro_Sol]

I am a music freak. I love any kind of music, unless it is being used to sell drugs or sex, etc. I've asked some people about music. They say it's sound, they say it's notes, or whatever. I think people need to appreciate music a little more.
With all this happening in the world, the war in Iraq, the Canadian politians not being able to shut up, hockey cancelled I think we need to stop and realize that music is more than sound. Well, at least in MY opinion. Music can help us relax, forget about this stuff, and it can be plain fun, too. How many of you go to bars? Think of what it would be without music, without a beat. Pretty flat, I think
And what about TV? Imagine your all-time favourite movie. Then imagine it without music! I was watching Secret Window and I thought, without the music, how would a suspense be "suspensful" without the high hat symbol? I mean, come ON.
What do you guys think about this? Should companies promote music more? Send in your opinions!!

[Cuchulain82]

I think that people should promote music. Music should be a larger part of (my) culture. Like DW said, music just cuts through everything, and there should be more!

[dragon wench]

I think that music, maybe even more than poetry, communicates thoughts and feelings in a way that nothing else can. It is, IMO, a critical part of human experience. And unlike written poetry, it has a universal language. At a literal level, everyone can respond to it and grasp its meaning. At the more metaphysical level.... it 'speaks' to the listener.. (though the latter is true of poetry as well )

There have been occasions when I have been at an utter loss as to how to respond in a particular situation, times when mere words couldn't have articulated what I wanted to say, and indeed would have sullied the moment. At such times I have shared a piece of music that, for me, conveyed all I wanted to express.

And, as I stated in the thread Cuch linked to, there is nothing that cuts through my barriers and defenses the way music can.
I can watch a painful scene in a movie without flinching... but if it is accompanied by a deeply moving musical score I fall apart.

This subject brings to mind the concepts surrounding The Music of the Spheres. I found the following page on Google, which provides a nice, straightforward synopsis: http://www.rca-omsi.org/musicspheres.htm

Fascinating stuff IMO.

[Rudar Dimble]

To me, it's like a healthy and cheap drug. Music can bring or keep you into a mood and it's very addictive.

[Xandax]

Music is more then "sound" to me - more the notes and (sometimes) lyrics. It is therapy(sp?).

No matter how lousy I get - I can always count on music to pick me up again. Listening to Pachelbels Canon is something I do often, simply to "relax the mind" so to speak. That and Jump, Little Children's Chatedral is so beautiful written and performed.

When I still went to exames, I had a "thing" (call it suberstition if you will) about listening to Fat Boy Slim's "Rockafella Skank" on my way to the school and a short time before - and it helped (still do when in stressed situations) me to focus my mind and settle what (few) nerves one is bound to have in such judgment situations. It did wonders for me.
When I went to an aunts funeral, I accidently heard "A-ha" with "The Sun always shine on TV", so that song for me has become synomomus with so many feelings simply due to that - and it is one of my favorite songs to this date.

And I have this with so many songs.
I also listen to music almost constantly when working - more specifically dance/trance/techno. It helps me focus when programming (oddly enough ).

Music is the way I clear my mind - it is my "meditation" so to speak. And I can only imagine that so many others have it the same way.

[dragon wench]

@Xan, you are so right. Music is an incredible trigger, and a key to the emotions. Whether that is to soothe and focus or to act as a release. It is therapy, in a very real way. In fact, some practitioners of healing employ music regularly in the form of tuning forks. There are individuals who dismiss such methods as "New Agey," or "flaky," but I disagree with them, music is incredibly powerful.

Once a friend was helping me to sort through some deeply buried personal stuff. We were making some headway, but when a certain song was played... that did it, the song was, quite literally, the key. Everything I had been holding, locked tightly inside.. just came pouring out.

Because I'm so susceptible to music, I have to be careful what I play and when.

[Magrus]

Music is simply necessary to a healthy state of mind for me. My first word was "song" even though I couldn't prenounce it right..and I can't sleep without music. I'm a miserable, angry person without music I agree with playing, constantly. I have music on all the time, to the point I don't bother with TV anymore. The TV gets in the way of my music and just had to go.

I had a girlfriend who couldn't sleep with music playing, and I can't sleep without it, SO we didn't work out.

I just LOVE music, it's rare that I find a song without lyrics that truly speaks to me, but there are a few. I just like the mix of lyrics that I can truly connect with and a piece of music that follows with it and blends well. The type of music I listen to, for the most part is simply heavy, aggressive music. Yet, if you read the lyrics, nearly every song has a meaning which I can and do identify with. When I'm sad, I listen to a song that fits with why I'm sad. When I'm angry, I listen to a song that fits that mood, happy, whatever. It really, truly is the BEST form of therapy I have dealt with. I listen to something that fits with what I'm feeling, and thinking and just ride it out on that song.

It's like the song just snags me on my emotions and carries me away until I've worked out that emotion I'm feeling and I feel fine again. If I'm happy, it draws that emotion out to make it last longer.

Some of the best times I've had have been just hanging out and singing songs with my friends. It doesn't matter what we're doing, I got stuck in a car with no radio with my friends Kim and Rachel and all we did was sing goofy songs the whole ride we had. I can't sing worth crap but my friends can, I didn't fit in at all with them, but we still had more fun in that car singing than we did at the party we arrived at.

Music really has been my escape and my salvation I think with all of what I've been through. The only times my father and I really got along during my childhood was when we'd listen to his rock and just jam out to it. I don't know if I would have survived my childhood if music wasn't present in it. Maybe that's why I have such a strong connection to it, the only moments of abuse-free peace in my childhood were when I had music playing in my house. Might be why I can only sleep when music's playing too. Never thought of that until now.

[Oscuro_Sol]

Yeah, I agree with the emotions thing. No matter what mood I'm in, I can count on music to help me feel better, even if I just found a twenty on the ground Man I am broke.
If you haven't found out already, I'm crazy for jazz (see the song lyrics thread!). There's blues, salsa, or just any classic swing song that can fit your mood and make you feel better, or make you feel like you have a friend that knows exactly how you feel.
The only think I don't like with music is if the artist(s) don't mean it. Like, I was listening to the remix of "Then I Saw Her Face" (forget new band), and I like the song, but the singers were like, yay, I saw her face. You hafta mean it!! I don't care if they hit the wrong notes, as long as it sounds like they're having fun or if their heart is broken.
Even metal, I like if the artists are "feeling" it when they do the song, or even the music video. Especially the old rock 'n roll. Stick with one chord the whole song, but make it fun and exciting .

[Rudar Dimble]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oscuro_Sol Even metal, I like if the artists are "feeling" it when they do the song, or even the music video. Especially the old rock 'n roll. Stick with one chord the whole song, but make it fun and exciting .

That's why I like Round Here by the Counting Crows so much. Adam Duritz really has a sad voice in that song. And he has a way of making the first verse, which has the most beautiful poetic lines in it ever written IMHO, even more beautiful.

[Magrus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rudar Dimble That's why I like Round Here by the Counting Crows so much. Adam Duritz really has a sad voice in that song. And he has a way of making the first verse, which has the most beautiful poetic lines in it ever written IMHO, even more beautiful.

I'm not a big fan of the band, but I do love that song. It's wonderful.

[Arrylium]

I'm a pianist and a musicology student myself, and I think music is wonderful. Sure there's theory about it - you can learn conventions and key signatures and things to make it sound like people expect - but like you say there is something about music which (in my opinion) cannot be explained, just some wonderful surreal quality about it. Songs I know can make me burst into tears, whoop in joy, burst into song or jump up and dance. I just love it. I love emotion in music.