Music What is music?

[Sara Kate]

I want us to think on the dichotomies we have today regarding music- specifically the dichotomies of art vs. popular music; noise and music; sound and silence...
what makes certain music "art" music or "popular" music?
What do you consider "noise", and what do you consider to be "musical"?
Can ambient silence be just as much music as sound is? (With this question I have John Cage's 4'33'' in mind, a work in which a player sits down at a piano, or their particular instrument and makes no sound at all!)
Personally, I do believe that silence is just as much a part of music as sound is. With the right attitude, the sounds that occur all around us can be appreciated and noticed when otherwise they would be taken for granted. It's the Music of the Spheres, the idea that the universe is constantly creating frequencies and music, forever.
Why is there a divide between "art music" and "popular music"? Why is it not just MUSIC? Is it the education one gets in the music field? Is it the fact that most of the composers of the standard workd are dead? Is it that most people claim that art music is boring to them? Is it the money? Is there a place for both, and is that place only found in film?
Apologies if this makes little to no sense. I wrote this mostly in stream of consciousness. If I need to explain any of this further, please express it because I want to hear thoughts about these things from other people who are not music students!

[bob5695]

i can only tell you what i like and what i don't.

i hear an Am. i hear an F. i hear a C. and i say "please god, don't let the next chord be G!"

and then the next chord is G

be f****** creative! why the hell are you playing a G?
we've heard that s*** a thousand times already!

what i do like is to be surprised. to hear a note or a chord that i didn't expect.

the label you put on the music is almost irrelevant to me.

[System Folder]

In my mind all music is music, but there is a difference. Music that is primarily written for money generally sounds different than music that is primarily written for the joy of writing music.

This illustrates why a lot of today's music sounds the same: https://soundcloud.com/bigoseinz/das-medley-amfcg

(This post was last modified: 04-24-2013, 05:26 PM by System Folder.)