[Dixielandjazz] What they teach in college these days...

[Bill Gunter]

Hi all,

Bob Ringwald wonders what I meant when I said " . . . music must speak to 
God."

>Oops there.  "Music must speak to God???"

is the way Ringwald put it.

Yes . . . "speaking to God is just a way of saying music is an expression of 
your soul . . . it reaches us and others as beautiful thing. And what makes 
a song, or any great work of art, beautiful? After all, basically it's 
simply vibrations in the sound and light spectra that have an effect on our 
central nervous systems. We are aware of all sorts of stimuli so what is it 
that makes us say "those particular sounds/sights are beautiful?

Why is a belch an offensive sound and bell a beautiful sound?

When it uplifts our spirits it speaks to God.

If you want me to define "God" - I'm sorry, I can't do it. But I know when 
something transcends the ordinary.

Wish I could be more clear, but if you don't understand what I meant by 
"music speaking to God" then you'll just have to go with the first two: 
"music must speak to the heart and to awe."

What I'm ultimately getting at is that by and large, most avant garde music 
does not touch my heart. I may marvel at the complexity of the composition 
or I may not, but if I have to think about it then it missed my heart.

When music touches my heart I know it and I don't have to think about why it 
is profound . . . it just is!

While I am on the subject, Mike C., after reading something I wrote, 
responded:

"Ok, then define music. What if one is just dedicated to their way of music? 
Music is about expression,  language and storytelling. Not everyone tells 
their story the same way. Some have new ways of expressing things. I don't 
think you can just say to someone "Your way of expression is wrong until 
you've learned the basics and discipline of expression." There is no right 
or wrong way to express yourself or tell your own story. . ."

I'm sorry, Mike - It's an art form and no one has yet defined "art" in a way 
that satisfies everyone. I don't think there is such a definition.

But if you say " . . . there is no right or wrong way to express yourself . 
. ." and you're referring to music then you are saying there is really no 
such thing as music. If music is whatever you want it to be then it is not 
anything special. If there isn't a special thing called music then there is 
no art, no discipline.

You know - I can listen to Perlman play the violin and I can say "Wow! No 
matter how hard I try I'll never be able to do that!" But if I listen to ten 
guys climb inside a grand piano and randomly rub and clonk the strings and 
produce various noises I can say "Hell! Anybody can do that and I can 
probably do it better."  Music??? Come on!

Have you ever looked at a contemporary abstract painting and said "Anybody 
can do that . . . it's just scribbles."?

Jackson Pollock dribbled paint of various colors from the top of a ladder 
onto a canvas laid out flat on the floor. The result is a collection of 
random but colorful dribbles and swirls. Anyone with a paint can and a 
ladder can do it.

Funny thing is, I really like Pollock's work -- go figure!



Respectfully submitted,

Bill "I know, deep down I'm shallow" Gunter
jazzboard at hotmail.com