Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Musical Sound Communicates Meaning Part 17


Musical Sound Communicates Meaning Part 17    

            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.    

Thought for the Day-   

I Corinthians mentions singing with understanding; how can a Christian musician music with understanding if music has no meaning?     




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