What is the point to music? If there is no point to it, then why do so many of us choose to surround ourselves with it? And what makes this thing, that has no substance or physical currency, so very valuable to us?
Perhaps, music helps us experience the gamut of our humanity. It enables us to feel things as they really are. Let me describe why this might be so;
Rhythm, being the form upon which all music is constructed, helps us understand our relationship with space and time. The beat of a drum, bone against stone or a staccato violin have us moving along with them. Even if they don't (for many of us are not natural dancers), rhythm becomes significant when it's absent. We all experience the persistence of rhythm when the beat drops out of a dance track, don't we?
Rhythm and bodily movement then, are inextricably linked. Music perhaps, enables us to feel the natural limits of our bodies; back and forth, in and out, shake it all about... In these movements, we test our place in the world.
What other art form exists not in the moment, but over time?
Now, I'm tired after a frantic few days in my personal and professional life. So I'm going to retreat for a while, with my headphones and Four Tet...
Let's leave melody, cadence & timbre for another night.
4 comments:
What do they say about architecture?
Very interesting point, Murph.
However, a building can be viewed within a point in time. Even though it exists through it.
Music on the other hand cannot.
My left brain and my right brain are debating over the issue, so all I can think of is this: My very interesting point is a decimal point. What is one point in time relative to eternity? How long does it take for a building to be planned, constructed, finished, weathered, aged, dilapidated, etc.? Better yet, at what point in time does music end or begin? Now, I can't decide if I have a headache, or if I've reached nirvana.
Sheesh!
Perhaps it's down to how big you like your slices of time...
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