Musicking Like it's My Job

Lately, I have been trying to listen to more music and less NPR/talk radio. I am under the impression that music is something that a person needs, just like sleep and water. Or maybe the way people need music is more like the way they need exercise. It's important, but it does not seem essential, until you realize how good it makes you feel.

The question here, though, is: is musicking (music is a verb, it's never a static noun when we talk about it) more important than being informed? I guess the easy answer is that, though music does not pinpoint each day with new headlines and highlights, it is still informative. Music acts as a filter through which we interpret our life, the day to day world that a person inhabits.

So you won't know the answer to the news quiz, but you will feel better everyday you music. Music makes us feel important, because it provides 1. something to identify with 2. if we identify with it, is is also a form of self-expression, when you express yourself, you assert your individuality, when you assert your individuality, you express the fact that you are alive, you are here, you are important. Yes! I think that makes sense.

How important is being informed of current events as compared to other forms of creative expression? Is music essential for humans?

Interestingly, I am not listening to music right now, though I keep thinking to turn the radio on (oldies 104.3 please!). The problem is that I can't focus on music and writing at the same time unless it is purely creative, then I can meld the two.

There is a big push from people these days to keep music education in schools and emphasize it's importance for youngsters. Why does it really matter though??

It's important, no doubt, as a cultural institution that risks being left to only the ambitious or privileged kids. But it's an aspect of life that deserves to be explored by everyone (which will be harder to maintain as children become busier with math and science) so they have the traditional knowledge.

By traditional, I mean that people have been playing music and making it part of their regular life for centuries, and training, before formal schooling was a part of life, was learned from other folks. In this way, music in schools is essential because it is part of our heritage, it is a folk knowledge. If we lose that, we may lose part of our traditional cultural identity, and our history. On the other hand, though music seems formalized, go to Indonesia and then see that their formal knowledge of music is totally different, because it comes from a different lineage of folks!


Check out this video: Gamelan Ensemble on Youtube it will blow your mind! It's traditional Indonesian court music, originating in ancient times. It's so extraordinary! I love this stuff. It taps into just the right spots in my brain. When I hear this stuff it's like a finger pushing a button on the tense spots in my head, and all the stress and tension just melts away.

But then part of me stays tense, and thinks, is it weird that I like this stuff so much? Why do I like these sounds when they are so different from "normal" Western music? I think it is the fact that it is different, enlightening, and the bells! Perhaps gamelan music helps me to pull up a part of my identity that I don't see much when I listen to familiar music...

Here is a book by Judith Becker, an anthropologist at the University of Michigan, about the gamelan music and the meaning of it in Indonesian's lives. I had to read a section of this book for a class called the Anthropology of Music, and it blew my mind. She gets into some really interesting stuff about about consciousness. I'm starting to feel dizzy just thinking about it! Wow.

Here, through Google Books, you can actually look through the book! Just read the beginning of the introduction, and you'll see what I'm talking about.

So, clearly, music is part of the human experience, otherwise it wouldn't be such a big industry, and people would not have created it in just about every society, if not every society. There is a lot to say about music too, that's why so many people are scholars of it.

For me, I make a point to music like it's my job because if I don't, I believe that I will become rigid, or closed off from a part of me that can exist, and add to my overall well being.

It doesn't make sense to me that kids listen to music all the time, and are excited about it, and then as we grow older and busier, that passion for tone,s and identification and validation through lyrics slips under the rug. That don't make no sense! We must just be too busy. Our priorities become practical rather than explorative. We are no longer bright eyed and bushy tailed, we know everything we need to know (not). We simply become set in our ways, we know who we are and what we need to know, and if we don't then we ignore that facet of our complex beings.

I was listening to Wire Tap with Jonathan Goldstein a couple of weeks ago. That is a crazy funny program on NPR that comes from Canada. One of the skits was about Jonathan's friend who was telling him about how he took very early retirement, from being unemployed. Very funny stuff. But he said, "there's a lot to be said about the lost art of looking out the window." That resonated with me because now I feel like I'm not the only one thinking it! I feel like music fits in this area of life. We've forgotten why it was every important.

                                           "Schmelvis: In Search of Elvis Presley's Jewish Roots" by Jonathan Goldstein and Max Wallace

Personally, I feel compelled to stay busy and productive, particularly because I am unemployed (partially), and I feel guilty that mom goes off to work every day and I get to stay home and relax. That's not fair, and so I feel less guilty about not pulling my weight in society by keeping myself busy and trying to stay productive. I wonder though, is that necessary? If productivity means to better oneself, and progress, maybe it is not the same thing as staying busy. Productivity does not equal busy-ness. I can further myself by ruminating, meditating, so I can cultivate my self rather than my external product. Music fits in here.

Is this too spiritual? Music fits into other practical aspects of life too! I swear, but it comes down to this deep stuff, I believe.

Music loosens us up, it gives us sounds to live our life by, it puts us in the mood, it pumps us up! It makes a gloomy day sunny (or a sunny day gloomy, if that's what you're into), but usually only if you're feeling the rhythm.

What can be said about the feeling a person gets when they hear music they don't identify with? The kind of music that you just really want turned off? I used to feel that way in Mr. Pawlowski's algebra class in 12th grade. During our math tests, he would turn on his stereo and play the smooth jazz radio station. haha! I hated that, but then I started to like it... I feel the rhythm.

This shows that music can make us tense, and that it adds to our life only if we identify with it. Music we identify with is a form of self expression, and in order to get the most out of life and to feel like individuals; simply to feel important, music allows us to satisfy that basic need. Dig it!

I've just remembered that DJ Spooky has had stuff to say about what music is and it's importance. Neat!


Now I just want to finish real quick with some reasons why kids (those who haven't lost the way) think music is important:

“I think music is important because music is a way that people can express themselves and if people couldn’t express themselves there would be a lot more violence in the world.” – A. S.

“Music, without it there would be silence, less joy, and darker times.” – B. S.

 “Music puts the life and excitement into the world.  Music is a part of my everyday life, from the radio in the morning to chorus and band class at school.  Without music, I wouldn’t be who I am today. – S. P. 

“I play a lot of video games, so I hear a lot of music with it.  I may not notice, but the music provides more depth to the situation.” – M. M.

 “Music is important to my life because it makes dancing and singing a lot easier.  It also makes life interesting and hardcore!” – E. C.

 “Music is important to people’s lives because it makes things better when things aren’t going right in the world.” – T. M. 

 “Music isn’t important in my life, it IS my life.  From flute, to piano, to guitar, it pretty much controls my life.  In the case of the world, it unites it with happiness and continues and tells histories of civilization.” – S. P. 

“Music is important in my life because music has cool beats, and music is fun and keeps me happy.” – R. M.

 “Music is so much a part of my life that I don’t know what I would do if there was none.  The world is greatly changed by music.  People don’t notice, but music changes people’s moods, feelings, and even their actions.” – M. H. 

“Music is very important in my life because I worship God when I play at church, and because it takes me away from doing stuff that is bad.” – K. B.

 “Without music, there would be nothing to do.  There wouldn’t be video games, TV shows, or concerts to go to.” – M. P. 

“When I am feeling bad, it helps me not feel bad.  Music is important in life because you need it for your national anthem.” – A. V.

http://www.aasd.k12.wi.us/madison/Music/Band/important.html