Bring your major instrument to class Monday.
Go to audio.depauw.edu, log in with your network/Moodle username and password, and listen to tracks 1 and 2 of "The Darling Conversations."
Also read the Music for People Bill of Musical Rights.
I'll talk about Music for People more in class. For now I'll say that it was started by middle-aged people, including classical musicians who were burned out from decades of perfectionism and had lost touch for their love and joy in making music, as well as people who were told as children they were not musically talented and never had the opportunity to express themselves musically.
There's a free, non-judgmental "there are no wrong notes" spirit in Music for People workshops which allows, as do all free-improv situations, for some magic and, as with drum circles, healing to occur.
The important thing for you to know is that this is a counterbalance, not a replacement, for the rigors of your classical training. You know hard what you are doing now is, rebuilding technique, constantly facing new challenges, some of which feel impossible. Many people, especially the most serious and dedicated of us, end up spending too much time in the inner world of "I'm not good enough."
Many of us professional musicians who discovered the Music for People approach late in life believe that if young musicians are introduced to these principles earlier in life, they can get through the rigors of professional music training while holding on to more of the joy and openness to their own creativity.
Writing prompt:
- A few people always get upset listening to the 2nd track when David starts talking about using the word "genius" more liberally, and for various reasons. How about you and your classmates? Could you actually be capable of genius? Of genius moments? What about "fantastic" moments? If you are thinking, no, not me, could you be limiting yourself?
- Which point in the Bill of Musical Rights resonated the most with you? The least?
1. I think that everyone is capable of genius. But "genius" is defined in very subjective ways. What I think they were trying to say on Darling Conversations is that everyone is capable of their own genius - of their own personal spectacular moments. We all are capable of genius moments but sometimes we don't recognize that because we are too busy comparing our moments to someone else's, and we find ours inadequate. Everyone just has to recognize their own genius and teach themselves that their spectacular ideas and musical moments may not look the same as other people's.
ReplyDelete2. I like the point in the Bill of Musical Rights that said "There are as many different ways to make music as there are people." It connects with the idea that there are different kinds of genius moments - there are different ways of making music, and none of them are wrong. The point that resonated with me the least was "Your music is more authentically expressed when your body is involved in your musical expression." I think in some scenarios, moving your body and involving movement helps musical expression. But a lot of the time, at least personally, it's a little distracting and sometimes feels inauthentic. If it helps you feel the beat or something like that then its great! But you don't have to move around to be more musically expressive if you feel it doesn't really help.
1. I believe the term genius is a term that really is obsolete in today's society . Before, people had to unlock new knowledge on their own but in today's society everything is handed to us via technology.We can't have those genius moments nor fantastic because, it can all be replicated and never a unique experience for a single individual.
ReplyDelete2.I like the point ,"Human beings need to express themselves daily in a way that invites physical and emotional release."I feel like this is 100% true we just have to take the time to actually express ourselves. I think that the fact this is included in the Bill of musical rights is very cool because music should be a total body experience.
I agree that we are all capable of genius. I think you are limiting yourself if you feel that you are not capable of these "genius" moments. I 100% agree with Megan in that we often become too busy comparing ourselves with others and we find ourselves to be inadequate to others. Everyone is capable of these genius moments and it is different for everyone.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite point of the Bill of Musical RIghts is "Human beings need to express themselves daily in a way that invites physical and emotional release." I feel that this right applies to me directly because I see playing music as a relief of stress. Playing music provides me an escape from the stress that I have about different things. These all have an impact on me because I agree with all of these points.
I agree that we are all capable of genius. I think you are limiting yourself if you feel that you are not capable of these "genius" moments. I 100% agree with Megan in that we often become too busy comparing ourselves with others and we find ourselves to be inadequate to others. Everyone is capable of these genius moments and it is different for everyone.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite point of the Bill of Musical RIghts is "Human beings need to express themselves daily in a way that invites physical and emotional release." I feel that this right applies to me directly because I see playing music as a relief of stress. Playing music provides me an escape from the stress that I have about different things. These all have an impact on me because I agree with all of these points.
I feel like anyone is capable of being "genius," and in many ways we may have aleady had a few moments of genius but because of how differently people define and see "genius," it is easy for us to not feel like we are genius. Your moments of genius are your moments and if you feel like you had a genius moment then you probably did, even if the people around you don't think so.
ReplyDelete" There are as many different ways to make music as there are people."
This was my favorite point of the Musical Bill of Rights because of how true this is. Everybody has something different to offer and this just ties back into the idea of drum circles. Everyone has a different style of drumming and if we play on everyones strengths something great can come of it.
I agree with everyone in saying that we are all capable of genius. I believe genius does not always stem from innate talent. This may have been the case for Mozart who memorised and transcribed the Miserere after hearing it just once, and Beethoven who wrote his Ninth Symphony while completely deaf. However, I believe genius moments can be achieved by all of us, and should not be seen as something unreachable. Genius moments can cover a wide range of feats that we are all capable of. The problem with our society today is that there are many musicians and professionals who are far too modest and don't recognise that they have shown genius moments or are capable of doing so. Sometimes it is our mindset that blocks us from realising our full potential.
ReplyDelete"Human beings need to express themselves daily in a way that invites physical and emotional release."
I completely agree with Allan on his thoughts in regards to this quote. Although we're reaching juries and music may seem to be causing more stress, I think it's really important to reflect on the beauty and healing power of music. It's an opportunity to express ourselves and connect with others, so just enjoy it :)
Although the term genius is defined by “exceptional intellectual or creative power or other natural ability, I believe that everyone is capable of being a genius. In order to get to this point you need to be dedicated enough to put the work into it. You don’t have to be naturally talented in order to succeed, the amount of effort that you put into that activity will determine your outcome.
ReplyDelete“Sincerely expressed emotion is at the root of meaningful musical expression.”
This quote resonates with me the most because when we are playing music, we often forget the emotional aspect of playing. People can try and fake through the emotion, but you can easily tell the difference between a sincere performance and one that’s not.
One that I am not sure about is that "your music is more authentically expressed when your body is involved in your musical expression." It's nice when people move to the music, but if they move too much, it can create a distracting and uncontrolled performance.
I like many of the Bills, but the one that is most resonate is "In improvisation as in life, we must be responsible for the vibrations we send one another." I think this relates back to something we constantly bring up, we must listen more than we play and be able to respond to others. It also forces us to be aware of how our actions affect others, which is something I find most important in life. I love that music is a reflection of our many other personal interactions.
ReplyDeleteWhen ever people here the word genius, most of the time their minds go straight to thinking about great scientific minds like Einstein, Galileo, or Hawking. Everybody takes the word so out of proportion and is under the impression that only a select gifted few are capable of amazing feats. Genius can be obtained by anybody, it is a mindset, you just have to think a little bit outside the box and make something wonderful.
ReplyDelete"Music improvisation is a unique and positive way to build skills for life-expression."
I really like this point because I've personally experienced the positive effects of doing improvisation. I honestly don't think of myself of being a fantastic improviser, but I have a lot of fun doing it. And I have been able to notice how much more comfortable I have gotten at doing it, not only have I become completely comfortable with improvising, but also in all social aspects of life I have opened up.