Amusing rant from someone with way too much time on their hands....
http://shii.org/knows/Why_I_Am_Amusical
http://shii.org/knows/Why_I_Am_Amusical
"Music - the biggest lie ever told"
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Bobby G
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If I can just echo Southamton Council's anti-litterbug slogan here, 'don't be a tosser'.
I have met the odd (very odd) person in my life who doesn't seem to connect with any kind of music, and they are, well, odd.
I think, in the light of this, I am quite justified in using the word 'arse' on this forum.
I have met the odd (very odd) person in my life who doesn't seem to connect with any kind of music, and they are, well, odd.
I think, in the light of this, I am quite justified in using the word 'arse' on this forum.
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Young Col
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Oh dear. Like or dislike different types of music, sure, but to denounce music generally and on such a flimsy pseudo-scientific pretext... what a saddo! No soul.
YC
YC
JohnnyFletch
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What a tit!
Mamos
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I feel very sorry for the person in question but I am not going to loose any sleep over it.
Just another attention seeker
Sounds like a cry for help
mamos
Just another attention seeker
Sounds like a cry for help
mamos
old git
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But isn't a musician "Just another attention seeker"? He asked in his board role of Devil's Advocate.
griff136
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I think the opening sentence was very apt:
I also like the Southamton Council's anti-litterbug slogan!
I also like the Southamton Council's anti-litterbug slogan!
jonf
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But isn't a musician "Just another attention seeker"? He asked in his board role of Devil's Advocate.
What a tit, he replies, responding in kind
Rogerb
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What's to 'understand' about any art-form?
I have never really understood those who say, for example, "I don't understand jazz".... it isn't necessary......it may even be, IMO, being too 'analytical'.
It either brings pleasure, or some other sort of interesting stimulus, to the senses or it does not.
The article just seems very silly and unworthy of further consideration!
I have never really understood those who say, for example, "I don't understand jazz".... it isn't necessary......it may even be, IMO, being too 'analytical'.
It either brings pleasure, or some other sort of interesting stimulus, to the senses or it does not.
The article just seems very silly and unworthy of further consideration!
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jonf
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A very sound point from Roger. I can't abide the over-analysis of art. Who cares if I can't spot the sub-text in Stropilovski's play, or pick out the witty allegorical counterpoint in Schapperknacker's 23rd? If I like it, I just like it, that's the end of it.
Rogerb
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An English scholar of my acquaintance wrote to a famous author asking "When you wrote....did it mean....?" and got a very pithy reply about attempting to attribute such 'meanings' to art-works without any real evidence, preferably from the artist him/herself.
I have been in trouble myself for asking, "How can we possibly deduce that...?"
I have been in trouble myself for asking, "How can we possibly deduce that...?"
Jules
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Mainly, I suspect, because a whole industry of critics has built up specifically to deduce, well- whatever the hell they like- as long as it fills airspace/column inches etc.....An English scholar of my acquaintance wrote to a
I have been in trouble myself for asking, "How can we possibly deduce that...?"
I'm 50/50 in this- "if is speaks to me, it speaks to me" end of story versus wanting to know why one piece of music 'works' better for me than another....
Rogerb
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Oh, I agree....I'm a quite analytical person, because I believe that trying to figger what 'works' and why is a great way of learning.
I am just rather cynical about the 'pundits' who 'know' what others are/were thinking ...
However, I used to advise my management students not to spend too much time trying to figure-out the way others think, but rather to concentrate on what they, as team-leaders, could do to try to get 'em to work effectively
I am just rather cynical about the 'pundits' who 'know' what others are/were thinking ...
However, I used to advise my management students not to spend too much time trying to figure-out the way others think, but rather to concentrate on what they, as team-leaders, could do to try to get 'em to work effectively
jadoube
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To pick up the devil's advocate baton.
I think it is plain wrong for people to say they do not enjoy mathematics. Such people are attention seekers whose only excuse is they've never understood maths.
Mathematics enhances the world and speaks to the soul. It possesses an elegance and beauty far surpassing poetry or music. As a side benefit it has clear and immediate practical uses and requires no expensive instruments or tools.
Or perhaps I'm biased. ;}
I think it is plain wrong for people to say they do not enjoy mathematics. Such people are attention seekers whose only excuse is they've never understood maths.
Mathematics enhances the world and speaks to the soul. It possesses an elegance and beauty far surpassing poetry or music. As a side benefit it has clear and immediate practical uses and requires no expensive instruments or tools.
Or perhaps I'm biased. ;}
A very confused and half-baked unscientific rant at that.
The blogger confuses the business surrounding music with music itself ... if there weren't CDs/gigs/T-shirts or even musical instruments and musicians there would still be music (the natural sounds of waves on rocks/wind in the trees/birdsong, etc, etc).
Someone once said that all human effort is ultimately futile ... enjoying music and/or making it is less futile and a lot less damaging than making bombs and waging war (oops! Getting political) haha
Being amusical is a difficult concept to understand and, probably, very rare ... in most humans there is a specific area laid down in the brain, roughly opposite to the speech and language area - of course listening/playing music sparks off a lot of other brain activity too, but musical appreciation seems to be universal - the jury's out on what 'use' it has.
Sorry johnf - I've probably got too much time on my hands too and it's a question that I've devled into when bored ... it seemed to me that a lot of musicians I know were also quite mathematically/scientifically minded, not all, but a lot and I wondered if there was any link.
The blogger's wrong, there is a lot of interest from mathematicians and scientists regarding music and vice versa.
The blogger confuses the business surrounding music with music itself ... if there weren't CDs/gigs/T-shirts or even musical instruments and musicians there would still be music (the natural sounds of waves on rocks/wind in the trees/birdsong, etc, etc).
Someone once said that all human effort is ultimately futile ... enjoying music and/or making it is less futile and a lot less damaging than making bombs and waging war (oops! Getting political) haha
Being amusical is a difficult concept to understand and, probably, very rare ... in most humans there is a specific area laid down in the brain, roughly opposite to the speech and language area - of course listening/playing music sparks off a lot of other brain activity too, but musical appreciation seems to be universal - the jury's out on what 'use' it has.
Sorry johnf - I've probably got too much time on my hands too and it's a question that I've devled into when bored ... it seemed to me that a lot of musicians I know were also quite mathematically/scientifically minded, not all, but a lot and I wondered if there was any link.
The blogger's wrong, there is a lot of interest from mathematicians and scientists regarding music and vice versa.
