Permalink for Comment #1319672184 by PHiSHEAD22
, comment by PHiSHEAD22
@MrMinersBrother said:
Yes, and being an American, I'm sure you were already somewhat familiar with most, if not all of that music through some medium or another, whether it be in movies, television, or the incorporation of some of the sounds and techniques those cultures value incorporated into music you have heard here. HOWEVER, for people who come from those cultures, Western music can make little to no sense to them. Other cultures may have different tuning systems, not to mention ideas about rhythm, melody, harmony (or the lack thereof) they have grown accustomed to throughout their entire lives, which affects their perception of Western classical and popular music of any kind. For example, a very accomplished Asian musician once attended a symphony orchestra concert for the first time in Europe. When his hosts asked him how he liked the performance and what his favorite part was, he replied something to this affect, "Very well. I enjoyed the first part the most." His hosts, of course, thought he was referring to the first movement of the symphony, but in reality, he was talking about when the musicians were tuning. The rest of the performance, what we would call the "music", to him didn't make much sense and seemed like it all sounded the same. An Armenian musician once also said, speaking of Western classical and pop music, that everything had this "mush" (which we refer to as harmony) that seemed to make everything sound alike and that the regular, driving rhythms made pop music sound undeveloped and boring, not only because of the rhythm but because of the melodies placed on top of that, that were, to him, so confined. Also, as @dosemeonturrr said, without knowledge of American culture, one from another country wouldn't be able to understand a lot of the themes that not only Phish, but many other American bands incorporate into their music, because it's just not familiar to them. Therefore, music cannot be the "universal language". Your world music teacher should've taught you that. Shame on him/her.
@MrMinersBrother said:
Yes, and being an American, I'm sure you were already somewhat familiar with most, if not all of that music through some medium or another, whether it be in movies, television, or the incorporation of some of the sounds and techniques those cultures value incorporated into music you have heard here. HOWEVER, for people who come from those cultures, Western music can make little to no sense to them. Other cultures may have different tuning systems, not to mention ideas about rhythm, melody, harmony (or the lack thereof) they have grown accustomed to throughout their entire lives, which affects their perception of Western classical and popular music of any kind. For example, a very accomplished Asian musician once attended a symphony orchestra concert for the first time in Europe. When his hosts asked him how he liked the performance and what his favorite part was, he replied something to this affect, "Very well. I enjoyed the first part the most." His hosts, of course, thought he was referring to the first movement of the symphony, but in reality, he was talking about when the musicians were tuning. The rest of the performance, what we would call the "music", to him didn't make much sense and seemed like it all sounded the same. An Armenian musician once also said, speaking of Western classical and pop music, that everything had this "mush" (which we refer to as harmony) that seemed to make everything sound alike and that the regular, driving rhythms made pop music sound undeveloped and boring, not only because of the rhythm but because of the melodies placed on top of that, that were, to him, so confined. Also, as @dosemeonturrr said, without knowledge of American culture, one from another country wouldn't be able to understand a lot of the themes that not only Phish, but many other American bands incorporate into their music, because it's just not familiar to them. Therefore, music cannot be the "universal language". Your world music teacher should've taught you that. Shame on him/her.
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