I want to know what would happen if we didn’t define and label things, specifically music because that’s what I’m thinking about right now. It’s not as if this question hasn’t been chewed over a thousand times before by thousands of people but it’s never, as far as I know (and I’ll admit I haven’t done any extensive research on really trustworthy sources like Wikipedia or anything) been answered.
So let’s say, for purposes of discussion, that for *some reason, no one can or even wants to label different kinds of music.
Take a classical musician, (let’s say she plays the piano) but she doesn’t know that she’s “classically” trained nor does her teacher or anyone she knows. She does know that she heard a great recording recently of a group playing a combo of banjo, fiddle, guitar, mandolin, dobro, and of course vocals which might be called, if this were a labeled world, bluegrass. She really liked it and she’s started experimenting with her instrument, incorporating this new style and mixing it with the way she played before. Now she goes to her friend who is a skilled pannist (not pianist, pannist, who also has no idea of playing in any kind of genre) and shows him what she’s been working on. He thinks it’s great and decides to take a break from his experiments with combining steel drums and electronic dance music (labeled = dubstep) and they start playing together, each bringing their own thoughts and styles to the music. In the end the labeled product would be a classical/dubstep/bluegrass/steel band sound. But that wouldn’t matter; it’d just be some sweet, perhaps somewhat bizarre music that would continue to evolve.
I’m not saying that having genres and names for different kinds of music is bad at all. The trouble develops when we decide that one type of music is “best.” That isn’t to say I’m going to stop cringing inwardly every time I hear a really dreadful country western song or that I’ll ever love Attack Attack! (here's a different Attack! Attack! and they're Welsh, would ya look at that...) but I think keeping an open mind in music is as important as keeping an open mind about religion. The kind of mutation that I described above **does happen, and it’s great when it occurs, but I think it would happen much more if ***people didn’t get stuck in their own genres (which can happen entirely without anyone being aware of it) and not think to look at others. I guess in the end it’s people that are the problem here, not language.
Go forth, and listen to something you think you hate! And if you have thoughts on this please contact me (Willa, in this case) I’d love to hear them.
*Maybe a kitten accidentally sneezed a large portion of the music loving population into an alternate dimension? I don’t know.
**Usually after hours and a few drinks, or frequently when people just get bored and experiment. Either way, marvelous things happen.
***I realize writing this that it’s actually more of an issue for people who don’t play anything.
I totally agree with you, Wills. Some of my favorite music are really just mashups of differently labeled genres coming together into something totally different and heavenly. I would probably liken what you're saying to other things we label, like race, religion(!), the list goes on...
ReplyDeleteI was with you until the religion comment: very different scenario there imho, and doesn't really compare. Artistic ideas and expression, regardless of your media, should certainly be open to change, interpretation, and collaboration, and thus able evolve with the culture of its people.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I feel there is a point where preservation of the 'old ways' is important, as it's important to remember where these new sounds came from. I think cutting out the labels is the wrong way to go about it; it's really just the mindset that needs to change. Have to be careful that music doesn't lose its identity in the face of change.
To play devil's advocate: There are those who are content to stay in a particular field of music, and what's the harm really? As long as it's good music.. who are we to say what people should and shouldn't do with their form of expression?
One final thought on this: we want to be careful not to end up like Laputa.
I totally agree. At some point all music was experimental, otherwise we'd still just be banging rocks together. It ticks me off when say a "Traditional" fiddler poo poos some Bagpiper because he plays in a group that blends "Traditional" music with rock and other influences. I've always loved Bele Fleck for that reason, he takes different "traditions" and the instruments associated with them and blends them together! Did I ever tell you I took our grade 5 competition set from when I was in the CPB and arranged it for my big steel band. We played it at a big pan festival with me standing by the band with my pipes. Some people LOVED it. Others sneered. Yeah a bunch of WHITE people playing steel drums sneered at bagpipes ....right.
ReplyDeleteIt's just variety not a hostile take over. Some people like the confines of traditionalism. It's easier for some to wrap their minds around a limited set of boundaries. Other people want to see where they can take something. It is not an attack on the tradition. People are still playing Baroque music aren't they? Contemporary music didn't KILL Baroque music. It's is just another choice. It's like saying allowing gay marriage will KILL traditional marriage. What? Heterosexuals aren't going to want to get married anymore?
ReplyDeleteReally great thoughts here. RE:the devil's advocate question, if people aren't comfortable leaving their set field of learning I completely understand. I do think it's important and healthy for people who want to mix and match and mess around to do so. The only thing that truly bothers me is when a person or group declares that their way is the only "right" way. We see that a lot in piping with things like piobaireachd. This moves from the question of labeling and onto one about people. The thing is no one really knows what "right" is. Given all the elements of music; notes, tone, space, dynamics, listening, to name a few, it seems like it would be almost impossible for there to be a "right" way, leaving out the fact that the idea of "traditional" is open for debate. (My teacher made a great point about that in a discussion last night). Anyhow, I'm trying to set my musical barometer to read only "if it sounds good it is good" so we'll see how that goes. I love all the opinions and ideas here.
ReplyDeleteWilla: I didn't necessarily say that people choosing to play one thing over another and stick with that one thing was due to comfort. Rather, some people just may just enjoy what they do and may have no interest in experimentation. I find a lot of branching out ends once people have found their particular niche, and I see nothing wrong with that.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with you about the snobs who say their way is the 'right way' and thus the 'only way'. The bottom line here is that it's music, not rocket science. That particular mentality is most prevalent in piping because of our competition culture, but actually you see that in other forms of art as well for various reasons.
Actually, now that I'm thinking of it, I'm not 100% sure I agree that there are no wrong ways. Perhaps instead we can think of it as being an infinite number of 'right ways', not just one way, and an infinite number 'wrong ways' as well. For instance, in art, there are various qualities that make a good design v/s a bad one... it's all in how you express what particular message you're trying to get across and whether or not your design does that effectively. I think the same concept applies to music, and thus piping, as well.