The goal of music

[cuberdrift]

I would be interested in a scientific view of this topic.

Goal of Music:

-> It will emotionally arouse people, in some way, if it TRIGGERS them.

The TRIGGER effect --> hearing the music, you will EMOTIONALLY PERCEIVE the music. I think HARMONY is largely responsible for this, at least in Common Practice Western music.

RHYTHM is another element - it gives the music a "drive".

So what is the real goal of music?

--> It TRIGGERS something WITHIN a person's mind. At least, that is its supposed goal.

My problem:

--> GRRRRR. This ALWAYS happens. EVERYONE IS *** WEIRD AND DIFFERENT I DON'T KNOW WHY. Can't they just say they DON'T UNDERSTAND IT BECAUSE -SNIP-? At least let me UNDERSTAND HOW THEIR BRAINS WORK. And don't give me that word "APPRECIATE" you nuthead, bah, as a classical listener I'm tired of the same old highfalutin pedestalized elitist stuff. Come on. Sometimes when it is too much, more hurts.

I have to PRACTICE HOURS AND HOURS AND HOURS so that people can HEAR IT, GRADE IT, then FORGET ABOUT THE *** THING. AGH. Seriously there are MANY THINGS THAT ARE LOVABLE TOO!

--> I'm VERY GUILTY about this too. You make me listen to an Arab music, I will say honestly, Well it soudns Arab, it reminds me of Sheikhs on camels and stuff, not more. I will not know whether it is an Arab party dance, Arab wedding song, or whatever. Or if it is by Ed Sheeran, I will just say, Oh it's a song for teenagers whose MINDS ARE TRIGGERED BY THE LYRICS AND RHYTHM AND EMOTION AND EXPLAIN TO THEM THEIR REALITY IN SOME COMPLEX WAY, BECAUSE THAT IS THE GOAL OF MUSIC, RIGHT!  I'm not going to smile fakely and say, "Oh I like that, I really appreciate that music, it's really good" and then GO ON ASK HIM WHERE HE *** STUDIES OR WHATEVER.

-----

Sorry but I just really wanted to write this down. Why is the world so weird? Why is it that I have to practice long boring classical music to make teachers grade me and the masses smile fakely and say, "well that's nice, complex stuff" and continue talking about their girlfriends or something.

Is there someone here who feels this way and can they explain it in a way I can't? Maybe make me realize something? Thanks much!!!

Really. I find it quite strange, but it is also...interesting.

[ted]

I am possibly by nature a happy pig rather than a wretched Socrates, but at seventy I can say that my music has never given me a bad moment. I just create and play the sounds I enjoy and no other. In the end, what people think about it neither concerns nor interests me. My goal, if such really exists, is to map my psyche, soul, consciousness, whatever you like to call it, onto abstract sound. I find this process fulfilling to a degree far beyond that of most activities, and I therefore work very hard at it, the discipline and the joy becoming complementary parts of the same entity. I cannot suggest why so many seem to harbour the angst you describe, maybe I am simply intellectually shallow and do not feel these things. On the other hand, I think I would far sooner work in the garden than spend my time struggling with music which gave me no joy or perception of beauty.

[hardy_practice]

As Auden said, it's about breaking bread with the dead.

[klavieronin]

If I'm reading your post right then I remember feeling this way towards the end of my time at university. I had just had enough of the culture there and couldn't wait to get out.

I remember seeing or reading something of about music's function from an evolutionary perspective somewhere and as far as I remember it's not fully known what the purpose of music is. There are a few theories though including for social cohesion and bonding, and/or to impress potential mates (along with other art and sporting achievement etc.). There is also a theory that music has no purpose but is appealing to us in a similar way to, say, chocolate cake. It overloads the senses with an experience that does serve a purpose but in it's natural form isn't nearly so rich. I don't know how well that theory is subscribed to though.

[keypeg]

I don't think that music has goals.  It is.  The musician may have goals or reasons for playing; the listener may have reasons for listening.  I used to regret that I was not given the opportunity for lessons, and had to go that route late in life, "too late" in some sense.  But it also didn't get distorted for me.  I played in the way a small child starts making castles in the sand, and gets engrossed.  When sheet music was passed on to me when I was young, I started discovering what was in it; drew out of it what the composer had to say; discovered patterns in that which made me want to be creative.  Music can be a personal thing.  Yes, there are teachers, and there are people who "judge" what you do, but when the music belongs to you, then these are just foreign things to put up with. Something like that.

[Bob]

Whatever people want (or not if it's less human-created, more random but still considered music).  It's art.

[cuberdrift]

Thank you everyone for your replies!

I think that, I have somehow understood yesterday why I am "angsty" about music not seeming to reach people.

In an occasion where I perform music for people, particularly in a solo classical setting, my mentality is that I am sharing with them a "gift". Therefore, my drive to perform is based on a stimulus to share something I find enriching with other people. I am therefore looking for a response from them, hopefully something enriching too.

If I find that they are not touched or affected, I realize my "gift" somehow doesn't mean much to them, which hurts. If you give someone a gift and they shove it aside, I would think you would be offended, right?

I believe this is what happens, and is the source of my desire to make this thread.

I cannot suggest why so many seem to harbour the angst you describe, maybe I am simply intellectually shallow and do not feel these things. On the other hand, I think I would far sooner work in the garden than spend my time struggling with music which gave me no joy or perception of beauty.

Does this mean that MANY, and not just me, go through this? I haven't got to know many people who have this "angst" though maybe I'm just still too young.

I don't think that music has goals.  It is.  The musician may have goals or reasons for playing; the listener may have reasons for listening.  I used to regret that I was not given the opportunity for lessons, and had to go that route late in life, "too late" in some sense.  But it also didn't get distorted for me.  I played in the way a small child starts making castles in the sand, and gets engrossed.  When sheet music was passed on to me when I was young, I started discovering what was in it; drew out of it what the composer had to say; discovered patterns in that which made me want to be creative.  Music can be a personal thing.  Yes, there are teachers, and there are people who "judge" what you do, but when the music belongs to you, then these are just foreign things to put up with. Something like that.

Maybe it does not have "goals" in that it does not seem to satisfy an observable, external "objective". I mean, if, say, a person works at a store to earn money to have food, then the food is the desired end. Technically, this is not the goal of music.

I think that rather music has some sort of "emotional/intellectual" or creative stimulus of sorts. It is a deep, complex concept in the mind that I think is expressed through sound.