Why do we like music?

Music can also be used to educate people, take this song by Frank Zappa for example:

 

If the question is posed by an analytical mind, can a non-analytical answer satisfy? I leave music theory and musicology severely alone -- it doesn't enhance my experience. So all I can offer is subjective conjecture.

We have musical genres because a majority of music is imitative rather than innovative. Pop is especially formulaic -- but so are some types of classical music, and many listeners would have it no other way. I enjoy music that has influences ( impossible to be without some) but still says something new, writers who are grappling honestly with the balance between originality and accessibility.

 

Another good question. I'm glad I started this thread now

I guess the question boils down to this: Can something as intangible as emotion and opinion be boiled down to cold logic?

Maybe.

 

It's difficult....
When we listen to a happy song for instance, we can all agree it sounds happy. We all like to be happy, yet some will like it, some won't....so it's not just an emotional response, in the normal sense. Hmm...

 

Would demonstrable logic in this area add anything to the experience? I would vote No. Rationales can always be built; they may not be valid.

One of the things I like in modern music is unusual time signatures. Instead of going 1234, 1234, 1234 from beginning to end, a song might go 1234567, 1234567, 1234567 instead, or include more than one time signature. There is something differently satisfying about it. That is all I know, and I'm happy with it because the experience is sufficient for me.

I don't mean to imply that we shouldn't try to discuss it. Not at all. It can be enlightening to try.

 

Or as someone a lot wiser than me wrote If its got a backbeat I can use it

 

I agree, but I think C1's question goes much deeper than that....as it defies logic, I think

 

I don't know. I sometimes think no, and sometimes yes.

Consider this. Everyone on this forum, I'd hope (given that its a gardening forum) likes to grow plants. We like plants for various different reasons. Some like them for their value as food, some for their aesthetic beauty, some to create a landscape etc. We all know a bit about how plants work, but none of us fully understand it, yet we pursue that knowledge even though the top boffins don't even fully understand all of it. Maybe just because we're interested, maybe because a bit of understanding helps us to achieve our goal of successfully growing the plants we like, and maybe a bit of both.

Some people might pursue that knowledge just because the very mechanics of something, are themselves a thing of beauty. For example, sticking with the plants theme, I personally find it mind-blowingly amazing that even the tiniest seed actually contains a complete plant, roots, stem, leaves and all, all encased in a very high tech casing that goes through several chemical processes in sequence before a final chemical reaction in the seed casing releases a signal, in the form of a hormone, to tell that embryonic plant inside that it's time to wake up from its suspended animation and start to grow.

Back on the music thing, sat in the car on my own on my daily commute, enjoying some music, as usual, another thought occurred. A rubbish piece of commercial pop just feels cold and mechanical, like it's been built, whereas a good piece of music feels organic, like it develops from very little, adding more layers of complexity as it develops, and going through various phases as it progresses, just like a living thing. The musical piece would be pretty rubbish if it jumped from one phase to another unrelated one, as opposed to flowing, like stopping a song part way through and jumping straight to the middle of a completely different piece of music. Not good, but building up layer by layer, and then evolving into another phase only when everything is in place for that phase to begin, makes it almost like a living thing, as opposed to a piece of work.

 

I regularly and routinely defy logic

 

Knowing why is useful, but not necessary. This part of our being, the reasoning part, has been encouraged to claim primacy. But a gardener needs experience and presence more than erudition. Attention, observation and interest are enough t o enable many people to garden successfully and with enjoyment. Knowledge, useful as it is, doesn't prevent failures (whereas skilled application of knowledge might prevent failures or kight not). The things we know about seeds are a story we are told. It is a true story, as far as it goes. And the seeds would do what they do with or without our theoretical nous... which, as you've already indicated, has not formed a complete explanation yet and may never do. Still the wonder remains. There is always more to know. I see this open-endedness also as a wonder. New knowing leads to new stories. I agree that the mechanics something can be a thing of beauty. I get way, way into beauty and don't want to come back out again, so I appreciate the point of the OP.

What you've identified as cold and mechanical may strike you that way because you've heard it (or something virtually identical) too many times before. A lot of stuff I listen to does precisely what you describe as rubbish (no offense taken)-- there are unexpected changes. I don't go in for atonal stuff or prolonged dissonance, but my tastes are not outraged by the absence of a soft landing. And they're only my tastes, but they do keep me happy.

 

Intrigued by the fact that as interested as I am in this subject, I don't know what to say about it! And for some reason I want to tie that wordlessness to the biophilia thread. There's a connection somehow.

 

Watched Dr Who the other day. This song was in it:



I find this piece of music very powerful indeed. I find it hard to believe that a company that is a typical corporation (the BBC) would pay for something like this to be composed and performed to such a standard just for a piece of fiction. I.e. it must be a recycled classic, but whatever, it tells the intended story far better than scripted words possibly could I think.

 

Something about the human voice in song compels attention. I've said I don't care about lyrics -- most lyrics are driven by a small handful of universal sentiments, so the content isn't a focus of attention for me. Nevertheless I very much enjoy a fine voice, and vocal polyphony (more than one tone at a time) maybe even more. The popularity of televised singing contests seems to bear out this opinion that a singer gets our attention and a fine singer compels appreciation.

Enjoyed the Dr. Who clip. May I suggest that the efficacy of the music here is a product of not only the sound, but also the provided narrative and the high-quality visuals? Without wishing to take anything away from the (beautiful) performances, IMO the music is not alone in getting the story across.

Re philistine/nonphilistine beeb: IMO there is a great deal more artistic excellence in this world than the media indicate -- talent (esp. underemployed) is abundant, not rare. There are too darn many of us humanoids about for talent to be rare.

 

Even the plants like music .... play them some pleasant relaxing tunes and watch them thrive

 

I couldn't agree more. You don't have to go far to find it either. Just last night I was watching TOTP 1978 on the box. 1978 is a bit before Simon Cowell or even Pete Waterman's reign. This meant that stuff that made it to the charts, was what people like as opposed to what people are told to like. It was fascinating because in amongst the cheesy light-hearted pop music, was a piece by a rather aged brass band. It just happens to be one of my all time favourite pieces.



Imagine today's 'talent scouts' allowing something like this to win something like X-factor nowadays

Media bias aside, you're right, the interweb gives us an easy way to find new stuff. In fact there's even a website dedicated to unsigned talent. Worth checking out.

http://www.jamendo.com/en/welcome

Of course, musical talent only makes up a tiny proportion of all the talent out there, but I think music is special in some way. People will argue fiercely about a painting, or a dance, or some new building design etc, but music seems to appeal to all, even the most cold, logical, hard faced among us.