[Frank Stearns]

"William Sommerwerck" writes:

"Frank Stearns" wrote in message
nacquisition...

snip

Do you think that badly recorded music is likely to make it harder for
future generations to separate "good" music from bad?

Depends. If they've actively participated in music, have a little bit of music
education (nothing fancy; just an 8th grade equivalent to, say, reading or
arithmetic instead of total music oblivian), they'll be much more able to make a
judgment about the recordings they experience.


But something has also shifted culturally -- it might be nothing more than
many
people becoming completely passive in their entertainment. Music, and
entertainment,
used to be participatory for nearly everyone, and often at a fairly high
level. No
one did it for you -- you did it for each other. And you did good things
for your
brain by making music all through your life.

This is an argument in favor of forcing all children to study music.

In the same sense of teaching them reading, writing, arithmetic to, say, an 8th
grade level (and making a suitable educational progression in music from
kindergarten to the 8th grade), then yes, absolutely.

This is nothing new; music at one time was an integrated and required part of the
elementary school experience in the USA. It still is in many European countries.

I am biased of course, because I am in the business and have music teachers in the
family. But beyond that, the activity itself seems to have a vital influence on
brain development, even brain repair.

Ms. Giffords, the congresswomen shot in the head by the nut case last year in the
Southwestern USA, has made a remarkable recovery. Reportedly, music therapy (a
gentle acoustic guitar and singing of consonant melodies and not head-slamming
noise) has been a crucial element in that recovery. IIRC, music was the single thing
that helped her re-acquire language.

Multiple brain studies have shown how much of the brain "lights up" when musically
stimulated. And if you analyze what music is, what it does, and how it affects the
typical human, this makes a lot of sense.


Of course, recordings have an important place. I was listening to the Mahler
3rd and the Kindertotenlieder this morning. Without recordings, it's
unlikely I would have ever this music.

Absolutely; I agree. But as you point out in a later post about leider, experiencing
(performing) it first-hand made it something special.

So, too, would basic music education and hands-on participation enhance the
recordings one might experience later in life.

Educators and their critics have been misguided and too easily dismissive of music
education, IMO. It doesn't matter what you do later in life; music is one of the
"enrichers" that make us human and in aggregate makes life better. Where would we be
if arithmetic was simply deemed "not worth the trouble so let's not teach it any
more..." (Well, perhaps based on results we're half-way there anyway! But you see
the point, I think.)

I'm not overly hopeful that we'll get music back for the general elementary school
population, but we should all nudge and suggest as we can.

Frank
Mobile Audio
--