First, I contend that music does communicate meaning and
second, that the person who will receive
the greatest meaning from a particular music will, without doubt, be the person
who has the greatest understanding of that musical genre and ipso facto, its meaning,
import, understanding, communication, or message. Third, I will concede that constraints on
one’s understanding of a piece of music will affect the amount of meaning its
musical sounds will communicate to the performer and the listener.
The strong belief that musical sounds are a “mirror of
life” or an “imitation of reality” is as ancient as Plato and Aristotle—and so
are the various arguments against such a philosophical thesis. Thus, it is not
far-fetched for me to contend that musical sounds do have the potential to
affect the whole life of all who hear and perform them.
My belief, therefore, leads me to the conclusion that
those who have a thorough understanding of music that arouses physical
passions, such as rock music with its incessant driving forward propelling
directionality, will possibly receive more harm because they have the greatest
understanding of this music’s content and intent communicated through
sounds. This is not to say that music
sounds will not also have a negative influence on all who hear it. Because
sounds penetrate the mind and the emotions, this music will exert influence on
all who hear it.
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