I am a person with no musical ability beyond appreciation. Some have said I have a tin ear, I usually don't recognize harmony when it's being sung, I'm embarrassed to sing in social situations (of course, where else would you be expected to sing?) and with good reason.
And yet I love music. Not all music, just the three main genres: country, western and classical.
Here's the thing. I understand George Jones. I understand what he wrote (sang) and how he wrote or sang it. How he composed it and how he set it down. I do not understand how a person can imagine an entire symphony in their head, all the instruments with all their individual sounds and nuances, and then write it down so someone else can hear it in their own head and then perform it. How does that work?
I asked my wife just now, as we're relaxing with a mellow piano and cello piece playing on Pandora. How?
"First," she said, "You have to be a composer."
"Oh."
I get it now. You have to know what the heck you're doing. Similar to land surveying, I suppose, but more widely appreciated.
I know there are a lot of musician/surveyors on this board. Can you you give me any insight into the mind of a musical artist and how the world works for you? You know, what color is the sky, etc., because I feel like I'm missing something important.
Thanks,
Don
“I never even thought about whether or not they understand what I'm doing . . . the emotional reaction is all that matters as long as there's some feeling of communication, it isn't necessary that it be understood.”
John Coltrane
I don't know and I spawned not one but two musicians (B.Music).
Swing era music really appeals to me for some reason. Going to various things with them over the years I picked up some of the technical details.
Now my oldest daughter sings lead vocals in front of a baby boomer rock and roll cover band (they are all older than me) but that is a side thing for her.
I don't know how anyone couldn't like Mozart and Beethoven.
I suppose it helps to start off hearing music from a very young age.
Kind of like learning a new language. Kids pick them up real easy.
I can thank Mom for exposing me to music at a young age. She had tons of albums including a 5-box set of Beethoven sonatas, concertos, symphonies, etc. I was the only one in the family that listened to them - a LOT! Then I hit the Mozart and Bach records. Then she got me piano lessons at age 13 or so. My teacher was trying to get me into contemporary stuff and I wasn't getting it. One day she asks, probably in frustration, what I wanted to learn. Bach. So there we went into the classical world - and I got that.
Reading the sheet music was easy for me. It was like reading mathematical formulae. Creating it is a completely different matter. Same goes for drawings. I can draw an object put in front of me but to do something like a Monet or running a tattoo - forget it.
Back to music. I read a book back in my philosophical days called "Gödel Escher Bach" (I still have it) and one of the first chapters was about the mathematics in some of Bach's cannons and fugues. Today I couldn't play but a few notes on the piano. I can drum a little. God help me to strap on a guitar and do something other than look cool.
However, when I hear some Eric Clapton, Allman Bros., BB King, Joe Banomassa, Joe Satriani, Eddy Van Halen and the likes, I can definitely hear the notes and imagine finger positions - but that's it.
My ex and her brother were both trained in music from baby age. Her brother was short of walking on water. That guy could play anything on about any instrument just from hearing a song once. Last I heard he was playing viola for the Atlanta Symphony. To hear him play would almost bring one to tears. He was/is that good. My ex had a voice like a Siren. That's how I met her actually. She was doing a little solo gig at a local bar where I was watching a ball game by myself. She cut loose on a song and I remember forgetting the game thinking to myself "who the hell is that?!!". During her break she came to the bar and sat next to me. Game on!!! 😀
A few months later she hears me singing in the shower before work one day. I never considered myself a singer but have always sang in the car, shower, workshop or where ever - but always alone. A couple months later again she had me on stage. I was absolutely scared to death and shaking like a leaf in a gale force wind. I guess I did pretty good based on the crowd reaction. Since then I've been on stage probably a hundred times or so and it's always scary as hell like the first time.
All in all, I think one must start at an early age to really "get it".
