For the Frank Sinatra artist in residency presentations, I decided to attend the webinar on Monday at two fifteen which covered the topic: what differentiates music from noise. As a musician myself I was fascinated by this concept. What I believed before the webinar was that music is an accumulation of sounds that was enjoyable. I had believed that if people didn't enjoy the noise being able then it couldn't be music. After watching today's webinar though, my opinion on the matter changed.
I learned that the concept of music couldn't be defined into one term, rather it is up to the interpretation of the individual. Francesco Turrisi had pointed out a few distinct ways people could identify music. Scientists could say that music is anything that produces a sound wave. Singers could say that music is the accumulation of noises that harmonize with one another. Musicians could believe that music is when an individual is able to get their point across without words, using sounds. Turrisi had pointed out these three contrasting ideas to point out how music is subjective to the individual.
After this webinar my definition of what music is changed. I now believe that music can be an accumulation of sounds that influences how anyone feels. This doesn't have to be locked down to musical instruments, it includes any noise making devices. When one hears the noise of a wind chime some may find it calming, then in that case I identify it as music as it changes how one feels. Another case is one starts to whistle -- whistling is the simple case of blowing in a concise way. However individuals can tailor how they whistle to showcase an emotion one wants to feel.
In my case as a musician, music to me is when I'm able to play my musical instrument - saxophone, clarinet, piano, guitar, or trumpet - and make others feel something. It's my biggest draw to music and is what made me want to become a musician as a hobby.
That is really awesome how you were able to connect this seminar with your musical background!
ReplyDeleteI liked learning about the definition of music as well. I bet it was even more interesting to you since you actually are a musician.
ReplyDeleteThe amount of instruments you can play is so impressive! I think the ability to make music is one of the most underrated and best talents of humanity!
ReplyDeleteWhat instrument(s) do you play, Marc? The talk Francesco gave on Friday mentioned that Arabic music often sounds "out of tune" to European ears, but that's because their musical scale has twice as many notes as ours does: so what sounds beautiful to them sounds awful to us. I thought that was so revealing about the limitations we all inherit from our cultures.
ReplyDeleteI'm so impressed with how many instruments you can play, and it really makes me sad that I'm not musically inclined at all. I do like your definition of music. Like paintings and other forms of art, it's really up to the viewer/receiver to decide how they feel about the work, and I think that's a fitting definition for music.
ReplyDeleteI used to be able to read music, but since I haven't in such a long time, I don't remember. It's such a great skill because its literally like learning another language.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you explained that music is subjective – what sounds like music to one person may not seem musical to another. I especially agree with how you described that scientists, singers, and musicians all have their own opinions on music – this really shows how personal music can be.
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