MUSIC
Music is sound that is structured for the purpose of changing our psychological states in desired ways.
Music is a relation between the sound sequences and the desires of the listener.
Listening to music is a distinct, aesthetic mode that differs from ecological listening (identifying and localizing sound sources in our
environments), speech reception (attending to understanding speech communications), and auditory nuisance (undesirable sounds that
impede our goals). Listening in the aesthetic mode is about us – what we regard as good, beautiful, preferred. One person's music may be auditory nuisance to another. Music in one situation can become nuisance in another.
We humans use music in about 20 different ways, depending on the kinds of psychological changes we seek.
Some of these uses are directed at modulating our own individual experience, whereas others are directed towards social purposes.
Major uses for music include:
Mood Control (to change our baseline moods)
Emotional engagement (we vicariously experience emotional states)
Arousal (up: wake up music, driving music, march music; down: easy listening, lullabies)
Motivation & inspiration
Cognitive engagement (think Bach inventions)
Spirituality, prayer, meditation, trance, wonder
Distraction
Entertainment
Masking of anxiety and/or unwanted thoughts, emotions, memories
Dance & movement (scaffolding of movement)
Memory (scaffolding of memories, nostalgia)
Rituals (religious, weddings, funerals, military, state events)
Identity assertion (as individuals and as groups, e.g. anthems)
Social bonding (listening together, dancing together, playing together)
Social coordination
MUSIC I LIKE:
Although I am not a musician by any stretch (I played violin for a number of years as a child with some limited proficiency),
I have always been an avid listener. Budget phonograph records, public record libraries, and record stores with listening stations
(Pop Tunes in Memphis) allowed me to sample many different kinds of music.
My students have often asked me what music I like. My tastes are eclectic and have broadened considerably over the years.
I like many different types of music, and I am always interested in discovering and appreciating new genres.
I tend to use music mostly for cognitive interest (novel or complex music), mood control, sonic background, nostalgia.
I also tend to pay much more attention to non-lexical, musical aspects (as opposed to lyrics).
The list is in rough chronological order, and I know the list dates me.
Genre
Bands/Artists
Albums
Music is sound that is structured for the purpose of changing our psychological states in desired ways.
Music is a relation between the sound sequences and the desires of the listener.
Listening to music is a distinct, aesthetic mode that differs from ecological listening (identifying and localizing sound sources in our
environments), speech reception (attending to understanding speech communications), and auditory nuisance (undesirable sounds that
impede our goals). Listening in the aesthetic mode is about us – what we regard as good, beautiful, preferred. One person's music may be auditory nuisance to another. Music in one situation can become nuisance in another.
We humans use music in about 20 different ways, depending on the kinds of psychological changes we seek.
Some of these uses are directed at modulating our own individual experience, whereas others are directed towards social purposes.
Major uses for music include:
Mood Control (to change our baseline moods)
Emotional engagement (we vicariously experience emotional states)
Arousal (up: wake up music, driving music, march music; down: easy listening, lullabies)
Motivation & inspiration
Cognitive engagement (think Bach inventions)
Spirituality, prayer, meditation, trance, wonder
Distraction
Entertainment
Masking of anxiety and/or unwanted thoughts, emotions, memories
Dance & movement (scaffolding of movement)
Memory (scaffolding of memories, nostalgia)
Rituals (religious, weddings, funerals, military, state events)
Identity assertion (as individuals and as groups, e.g. anthems)
Social bonding (listening together, dancing together, playing together)
Social coordination
MUSIC I LIKE:
Although I am not a musician by any stretch (I played violin for a number of years as a child with some limited proficiency),
I have always been an avid listener. Budget phonograph records, public record libraries, and record stores with listening stations
(Pop Tunes in Memphis) allowed me to sample many different kinds of music.
My students have often asked me what music I like. My tastes are eclectic and have broadened considerably over the years.
I like many different types of music, and I am always interested in discovering and appreciating new genres.
I tend to use music mostly for cognitive interest (novel or complex music), mood control, sonic background, nostalgia.
I also tend to pay much more attention to non-lexical, musical aspects (as opposed to lyrics).
The list is in rough chronological order, and I know the list dates me.
Genre
- EARLY MUSIC & BAROQUE (I grew up listening to lots of Vivaldi & Telemann on Nonesuch Records, Bach)
- SOUL (Booker T & the MGs, Sly & the Family Stone; I've come to appreciate Motown)
- CLASSICAL ERA (Hayden, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Sibelius, Dvorak, Mahler, Stravinsky, Ravel, Satie)
- EXPERIMENTAL (Cage, Reich, electro-acoustic music, Holger Hiller, Meredith Monk, Sussan Deyhim)
- MINIMALIST/AMBIENT (Cage, Reich, Eno, Arvo Part)
- PROGRESSIVES (Emerson, Lake, Palmer; Yes, Henry Cow/Art Bears; Slapp Happy, Gentle Giant, Gryphon, Mahavishnu Orchestra, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Soft Machine/Hatfield & the North, PFM, Faust, Ivor Cutler, The Slits, The Raincoats, Young Marble Giants/Weekend; Dead Can Dance, Tuxedo Moon, Brian Eno, Roxy Music, Kraftwerk, Popol Vuh)
- JAZZ Herbie Hancock, Weather Report, Chick Corea/Return to Forever, Keith Jarrett, Oregon/Ralph Towner, Jon Hassell, McCoy Tyner, ECM jazz of the late 1970's, Mahavishnu Orchestra, The Lounge Lizards, John Lurie, Gill Scott-Heron, Tom Waits
- PUNK/NEW WAVE Talking Heads, B-52s, The Police, Devo, The Clash, Blondie, The Pixies, Flying Lizards, The Contortions, Pere Ubu, Joan Jett
- WORLD MUSIC Zap Moma, Balinese gamelan, Mongolian throat singers, Bulgarian women, Marta Sebastien, Mahmoud Ahmed (Ethiopia), tango, Throw Down Your Heart (Fleck et al), Buena Vista Social Club
- POP Joni Mitchell, The Kinks, Madonna, Elvis Costello, Iggy Pop, Kate Bush, Fleetwood Mac
- ROCK The Who, The Pretenders, Neil Young, The Grateful Dead
- FOLK Pete Seeger; Joan Baez; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
- DANCE English Beat/UB40, all ska & reggae, New Order, Earth Wind & Fire
- GUITARISTS Mark Ribot, Bill Frisell, Leo Kottke, John McLaughlin, Fred Frith
Bands/Artists
- THE BEATLES
- THE WHO
- DAVID BOWIE
- ROXY MUSIC
- TOM WAITS
- CAPTAIN BEEFHEART
- TALKING HEADS & B-52's
- THE SLITS & THE RAINCOATS
- CASSIBER
- TUXEDO MOON
- DEAD CAN DANCE
- NINO ROTA
Albums
- Kew.Rhone
- Desperate Straights (Slapp Happy/Henry Cow)
- Stranger Than Paradise (Lurie)
- Birds of Fire
- Light as a Feather (Corea/Purim)
- Quadrophenia
- Close to the Edge
- Dark Side of the Moon
- The Incredible Beat of Soweto
- Clear Spot (Beefheart, especially side B, beginning with Clear Spot)
- The Rotter's Club (Hatfield & the North)
- Holy Wars & Desire (Tuxedo Moon)
- The Harder They Come (soundtrack)
- Until the End of the World (Wim Wenders soundtrack)
- Vivaldi Recomposed (Richter)