The Mystery of Music

22 July 2016

Our topic this week is the Mystery of Music. Music is an amazing thing. It can move us to its groove and or make us cringe. it can lift us up or bring us down. But exactly how does music work its magic on the mind? What separates good music from bad? And why do different people react so differently to the very same music? Those are just some of the questions we address on this week’s episode.

第一个想法是,这一切都只是品味的问题,因此完全是主观的!你喜欢贝多芬,但我对他的音乐毫无兴趣。我喜欢披头士乐队,但你可以选,也可以不选。还有什么好说的?

In fact, there’s a lot more to say. A person is missing something if she is not not uplifted by Beethoven’s triumphal Ode to Joy, if she’s not haunted by his Moonlight Sonata. And as for the Beatles, who could hear “Yesterday” and not feel an intense sense of longing?

In saying this, I don’t mean to be appointing myself the arbiter of all musical taste. Heck, I don’t pretend to be the arbiter of anything at all, actually. But do consider this. Suppose I put my hand right in front of your eyes. And suppose you were to insist that there or that you see a foot rather than a hand. That would be a sure sign that there was something wrong with your eyes and that it was time to get them checked. And it’s the same, I admit, with musical perception. Musical perception is no more or less subjective than visual perception. Sure, visual perception is partly subjective. But it’s also responsive to what’s out there in the world. Same with musical perception. It’s partly subjective too. But it is also responsive to what’s objectively out there in the music. That’s why I say that if you don’t hear the longing in “Yesterday,” you’ve got flawed musical perception.

现在,有些人可能会担心我的类比有缺陷,因为它将两种截然不同的东西——感知和味觉——混为一谈。你可以说,仅仅因为我们的口味不同,并不意味着我们的感知不同。音乐就是声音。我们用听觉感知声音。如果你和我听到相同的音乐声音,我们感知到相同的音乐现实。但仅仅是感知并不能决定味道。也就是说,我们可能会听到完全相同的声音,完全相同的音乐现实,比如升C,但如果你碰巧喜欢这个声音,而我不喜欢,这并不意味着我们中的某个人误解了这个声音。只是你喜欢升C,我不喜欢。这就是全部。感知是一方面。 Taste is something entirely different. Or so it may seem.

But I don’t think it’s as easy to untangle perception and taste as this line of reasoning seems to suppose. Think about beer. I love beer – especially a soft and creamy stout or a fruity Belgian ale. But I used to absolutely hate the stuff. During most of my college years, when I first started drinking beer, I would chug the first few so that the taste of the rest wouldn't bother me so much. So what changed in me? Part of it was that I started drinking better beer and not just cheap rock gut. But I also became, I think, a better beer drinker. As I a novice, largely unrefined beer drinker, I couldn’t tell a pilsner from an amber. But as I drank more and gained more experience, my palette became more refined. I gradually became attuned to the subtle differences among beers and learned to take pleasure in them. So it’s not just that I drink better beer these days, it’s also that I’ve become better at drinking beer. And I think one can do the same thing with music.

当然,只是因为我比以前更擅长分辨啤酒了。但这并不意味着我就会更喜欢这种或那种啤酒,仅仅因为我能区分它们。但我确实认为,我的优雅使我能更好地判断真正的啤酒质量。例如,我肯定会相信更有经验的老我,而不是年轻和没有经验的我,来区分好啤酒和坏啤酒。这是因为无论我们谈论啤酒还是音乐,审美品味都是一种技能,一种可以磨练的技能。如果你想磨练我们自己的倾听和思考能力,请收听我们的节目并加入对话。


Photo bySpencer ImbrockonUnsplash

Comments(6)


Gary M Washburn's picture

Gary M Washburn

Saturday, July 23, 2016 -- 5:00 PM

Schoenberg breaks the matter

Schoenberg breaks the matter down to rhythm, tone, and something he called "color". "Color" being the human part. And yet, what he produced was more like machne music than ever.
A more philosophically interesting opposition is between lyric and beat. Which, semantics or syntax, subject or predicate, antecedent or extension, premise or conclusion, the equation or its reduction, takes precedence? Is music poetry or dirge? Is it driven by the meaning and humanity of the sense expressed? Or by the syncopation of time? If human, music is the expression of a breach in the pace of time. If tempo or beat, humanity is the slave of time.

Guest's picture

Guest

Thursday, July 28, 2016 -- 5:00 PM

The good service means they

哈佛医学院的神经生物学家马克·特拉莫博士说,欣赏和欣赏音乐的能力是人类的一种固有属性。当许多生物用令人费解的声音来记住彼此、吸引配偶和发出威胁时,人类已经建立了所有物种中最丰富的音乐收藏。

Harold G. Neuman's picture

Harold G. Neuman

Friday, July 29, 2016 -- 5:00 PM

I have always loved music,

I have always loved music, and, once-upon-a-time, played for my breakfast, lunch and supper, etc. But, playing music as a profession left a lot to be desired. Anyway, I still enjoy listening to most musical genres and will entertain changes in style and content, as long as the music remains. For example, I have been noticing big differences in today's country music (it used to be called country and western, but that characterization is now pretty well extinct, near as I can tell). Country music now sounds more like pop music, or perhaps better: rock and roll, with a twang. It is no longer all about cheaters, drunks and other social misfits, but, when such themes are portrayed, the music is often bright and cheery,even when it is certain that "we are never, ever getting back together". It's bubble-gummy, but, it's cute. Evolution, I guess... Apparently, this new-wave country is making its' writers and performers wealthy. Good for them.
I do not get rap and hip hop. Not musical to me. Lots of yelling and hot air; degradation of women and the rule of law; lots of glorification of violence; in short: a promotion of anarchy and the primacy of doing whatever one pleases, at any cost, including getting shot for one's trouble. I have also noticed that artists(?) of this genre frequently die for their trouble. So, I don't get all of that but suppose it must be an outgrowth of the hopelessness of our turbulent times. I grew up in turbulent times. Everyone has, but there are different ways of reacting to that.
I prefer classical music and jazz these days. What did the man say?: life is ninety percent what happens to you and ten percent how you react to that. Some such formula. As has always been the case, music can be a force for good or for evil. Some things remain the same, with or without turbulent times and their seeming hopelessness. A good beer doesn't hurt. Much.
Neuman

Jacob's picture

Jacob

Thursday, August 4, 2016 -- 5:00 PM

I always love musing, It

I always love musing, It helps me to pass my time, for refreshment, to reduce pain and some others. I listen music when I feel sorrow or when I am unhappy. I also listen music I am happy and excited. Various types of emotion, various kinds of music and various kinds of lyrics. In a short sentence music is a great part of our life.
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apek's picture

apek

Tuesday, September 27, 2016 -- 5:00 PM

The greatest mistakes of any

历史上任何政体所犯的最大错误就是支持一个候选人,而认为他说的不是他的本意。在《星际迷航》电影《回家的旅程》中,有这样一个场景:斯波克和柯克乘坐公共汽车穿越20世纪70年代的旧金山。在他们对面的公交车上,一个“光头党”在大声播放“录音机”,以至于他们无法进行讨论。“我恨你,我斥责你,我也恨你!”当要求“光头党”(实际上,他戴着一个莫霍克发型)把声音调大时,斯波克伸出手来,用瓦肯神经捏了一下。一阵沉默,其他骑手鼓掌。但我更认为,特朗普现象把美国人分成了两派,一派是支持那个混蛋,另一派则是支持他的其他支持者。我们将在11月看到。非常有用的职位,我真的喜欢你的工作!谢谢分享! Android APK Download apkdom Love fun advises ideas lovematchfun join now. Pokemon Go Gym Battle Simulator, Evolution Calculator, IV calculator CP, Pokemon Go Map Locations pokevolver The Best Prank Apps, jokes and shocking Games for Android. prankyapps electric screen. Free Android APK download softlot. Top Best advices, howto, movies, games, top10, reviews topbestis. Gift Ideas and advices giftspilot gifts for her and kids. Cheers! Android app games APK downloader Download Fake GPS Pro Apk. best safe APK downloader free download server Get Pokemon GO APK apk file.

Newstetter's picture

Newstetter

Sunday, March 24, 2019 -- 8:38 PM

Have to say that I was a bit

Have to say that I was a bit disappointed by this discussion. First of all, the guest was really not a music expert, but an historian who wrote a book about James Bond theme songs. Adrian Daub is — according to his bio— a "Professor of Comparative Literature German Studies at Stanford University" ... I don't see any music expertise among his credentials. (http://stanford.academia.edu/AdrianDaub/CurriculumVitae)

Also, there was no mention of the actual physical nature of music. Music isn't just an idea, it's a physical phenomenon resulting from organized vibrations ... organized tonally and rhythmically. These vibrations follow a pattern which is not at all arbitrary, but which follow harmonic patterns which come directly from nature. We, as living organisms resonate with the harmonic structures of music throughout our bodies, not just in our ears or our imaginations. How can you have a real conversation about our understanding of music ... the "meaning" of music if you don't include the physics of music and the physical connection we have to it ... even on a fundamental level ... Yes, you did have a bit about Stravinsky's Rite of Spring as an example of "dissonance" which confounds our expectations, but this is a hackneyed example which does not hold up under scrutiny, nor does the bit about predictability being satisfying. None of these segments of the show really touched on the nature of music on a basic level ... just one mention of the harmonic series and how all musical forms across the world and throughout time are based on this naturally occurring tonal phenomenon would have been better than all the befuddled discussion of which songs your panelists listen to at breakfast.

For a program based on "Philosophy" I would think you might have at least mentioned the role Pythagoras played in defining the musical intervals which are used in most of the music we are familiar with. Instead, the conversation centered on a few pop songs and vague commentary about what each panelist did or didn't feel good about or otherwise unscholarly mumbling from the hosts comparing music to beer.

There's only so much you can cover in an hour, but at least you could start with some rudimentary understanding of what music is in the first place on a primal level. Humans have been making music since pre-history. the hosts of the show seemed almost proud of their ignorance of the subject.

I'd say this topic should be revisited, this time with a guest who actually has a real music background who can address the essential nature of music beyond pop culture references.