Humbling reminders that non-musicians provide

[Derek]

In the spirit of some recent posts concerning musicians and non musicians, I thought perhaps we should try to appreciate our less musically inclined peers.

My mother cannot be said to be very musically inclined. She can sing alright, and loves listening to oldies, but cannot be bothered with anything remotely theoretical (by theoretical, I mean the broad category of musical intuition, whether traditional or personal). I have observed, time and time again, that she responds to very simple things in music. A flowing major chord, a jazzy bass line. Do we need counterpoint and pantonality to appreciate music? Of course not.

I am reminded by the simple, innocent musical aesthetic of my mother that that is why I loved music to begin with, throughout my entire childhood: I had no idea what a dominant chord was. I had no idea what counterpoint was...

I just heard the sound, and was transported.

[pianistimo]

my mother used to play this one recording of horowitz playing chopin over and over at naptimes.  i like piano, but i've never truly appreciated chopin until now.  she had good taste, but i didn't recognize it at the time.

i like to watch children when they listen to music because they always move to the music.  this is the highest form of musical freedom.  to just move as you feel.  to dance.

[alzado]

Also, remember the encouragement given to those of us who play by persons who are "a good audience" or "good listeners."

My wife can't play any instrument, but she likes to hear me practice and gives me lots of encouragement. 

We had a couple over for dinner a few nights ago who insisted I play something for them, and then praised my modest efforts very profusely.

So God bless good listeners, even if they themselves don't play.

And of course, some who play the piano are really not musicians.  They just bang things out and show off, and have virtually no understanding of what they are playing.

But we can give most of them the benefit of the doubt, I suppose - -

[Jacey1973]

In the spirit of some recent posts concerning musicians and non musicians, I thought perhaps we should try to appreciate our less musically inclined peers.

My mother cannot be said to be very musically inclined. She can sing alright, and loves listening to oldies, but cannot be bothered with anything remotely theoretical (by theoretical, I mean the broad category of musical intuition, whether traditional or personal). I have observed, time and time again, that she responds to very simple things in music. A flowing major chord, a jazzy bass line. Do we need counterpoint and pantonality to appreciate music? Of course not.

I am reminded by the simple, innocent musical aesthetic of my mother that that is why I loved music to begin with, throughout my entire childhood: I had no idea what a dominant chord was. I had no idea what counterpoint was...

I just heard the sound, and was transported.

My mother is the same. She's never been musical but always had classical music records to listen to. Without her playing classical music to me when i was toddler onwards i dont think i would ever have been to exposed to it as much. By the time i was 8 i knew i wanted to do a music degree, and now just having graduated it's weird that i play her classical music i think she might appreciate instead and educate her a little. She's also a great companion to go to concerts with 

[rc]

When I'm playing and they start walking out of the room - a subtle hint that I'm not doing very well.

When I'm playing and they start walking into the room - flattering, then it's time for me to get nervous and make them go back out 

When they say "That's nice" - I'm doing a good enough job, but not emotionally connecting. Either need to play at a more receptive time (NOT during a dinner party), and/or get into the music more.

Someone says "What was that you just played?" - I've managed to get this one curious about the music, and have done my job.