Understanding music is a hard thing to define. What is understanding music? I think that there are two levels of understanding.
The first level of understanding is a purely technical, academic understanding. Terms such as major; minor; harmonic progression; chords labeled I, V, vii, ii; terms like larghetto, andante, vivace; typical structures of pieces like symphonies, concertos, etc....and the list goes on and on.
The second level is a much more important one in my estimation. It is understanding what emotion and character a piece portrays. The ability, whether consciously or subconsciously recognized, to say "oh, that piece of music reminds me of..." or that piece makes me feel happy, angry, peaceful, excited, etc. This is direct communication to the human soul/emotional center. This communication is what makes music so beautiful.
So the next time you hear some music, be aware of the level on which you understand it and how communicative it truly is!
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2 comments:
I adore violin music. However, my tastes grow bored quickly and I am always on the look out for something to satiate my musical hunger.
The reason for bringing this up is that I have fallen in love with an obviously classically-trained violinist who is molding his two most-loved musical genres: hip hop and, well, classical.
It's worth checking out and is really quite entertaining. One of my favorites.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36Xt-XeWnHM
Tell me what you think, please! I'm eager to find out.
Hi katelynian!
I looked at it. Very interesting! I am seeing a lot more of this kind of "crossover" work being done each year. Mixing two complete different genres is a big thing today (in case you're curious, I wrote several posts a few days ago about Andrea Bocelli and his crossover work) which we are just now being taught about at the School of Music. Many "purists" in the "classical" world would definitely look at this as a pop art as opposed to fine art, but I think it is something which is unique and, as you said, it truly is quite entertaining!
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