So there am I again, sitting in front of my oh-so-beautiful keyboard, listening to Bach (jazzed up, that is) and drinking a nice darjeeling. Asking myself why oh why don't they teach us more about music in schools?
The subject came up casually... I bought a new record (the aforementioned jazzed-up Bach by the Jacques Loussier trio); I put it on and started explaining to someone what is playing. Right... its classicall music, but not really classic, as it's played in "jazz" style. What's different, you ask? I dunno, it's just jazz....
Argh!
I opened the booklet that came with the cd... well, some stuff is mentioned. But it's all gibberish to me. I know nothing of notes, chords, chord progression, bass lines,... God knows what other concepts are lurking out there, and I'm lacking the words to capture them.
Why is that? The answer is plain and simple: music is not really being taught in our educational system (Slovenia, that is). Oh, we had music, but nobody took it seriously, not even music teachers. The material they taught was completely inadequate and useless. So: After at least 6 years of learning about music, I can proudly say I have no skills in really looking at music in a more sophisticated way. Consider it like this: I feel like my forefather of ancient prehistory after seeing lightning for the first time - being awestruck by the sheer mysteriousness of it. Or, as we say in Slovenia: I'm staring like a calf encountering a new door.
Really, I think this is catastrophical. One can understand and enjoy music much better when understanding the language it's written in. The comparison to reading books while not knowing the alphabet and grammar is not really exaggeration.
I fell that everyone should have some basic education in reading music and understanding music. This incorporates basic elements, instruments, history (including the music of today), the knowledge to discern good music, and probably more. Why? Well, you might argue that listening to music is nothing else than a way to relax. True. Can't argue with you there - if music means nothing more to you, feel free to look at the pretty pictures you can find in books.
But to me music is much more. It's a kind of conversation, an exchange of emotions. Music is emotion. Music means all those emotions one can not describe in words. It's a trigger - a trigger of thoughts, emotions, moods. It paints fantastical landscapes of unearthly origin, or just simple, dark insides of shoe boxes. It fills up the empty space; the echoing sound makes big places even bigger, and small spaces even smaller. It tells more than thousand, even million words - it sends memos that can't be written. It moves people, mentally and physically. Gives a nation a common identity. Shows that a state actually consists of many different ethnical groups.
I think I would not function without it. I listen to music all the time, regardless of the time or opportunity. To me, music is the world.
And this is why I would like to say more than just: wow, I like that song. I'd like to know why I like it. Or know its structure - bones, flesh and skin - to find similar music. To tell the difference between jazz & classical music, ska & reggae; actually know what "swinging" means; see why a tune is so simple, because I'm not satisfied with "It is made only of three chords" explanation. And so on.
Why don't I go to music school, you ask? Well... I could do that. But I have no real intention to make music (secret fantasies aside).
So... final note: bring music to regular schools; it is one of the most important art forms humans indulge in.
One thing gives me some thought though... we were chewing on this with some friends more than once. They are musically educated, one could say. It often happened they hated a song just because it was to simple - not complex enough. Or the musicians weren't good enough.
I attributed that to my ignorance in that matter - I listened solely with my heart, without any prejudices about the quality of the reproduction or music. And alway regarded this as an advantage.
So, once we're all educated, will we be still sharing emotions with music, or will we strive for robotic perfection?
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btB