Comments on: Aging rockers http://www.susantomes.com/keller-waters-barret/ Pianist & writer Tue, 07 Feb 2012 08:56:38 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Susan Tomes http://www.susantomes.com/keller-waters-barret/comment-page-1/#comment-3389 Susan Tomes Fri, 09 Jul 2010 09:24:33 +0000 http://www.susantomes.com/?p=2139#comment-3389 These are all very interesting points, Peter. I wonder why our generation has so much valued the kind of popular music that enables you to 'lose yourself in a trance'? These are all very interesting points, Peter. I wonder why our generation has so much valued the kind of popular music that enables you to ‘lose yourself in a trance’?

]]> By: peter http://www.susantomes.com/keller-waters-barret/comment-page-1/#comment-3387 peter Thu, 08 Jul 2010 18:33:01 +0000 http://www.susantomes.com/?p=2139#comment-3387 If one is trained in the western classical music (or art-music) tradition, then one learns to listen for various aspects in music, such as harmonic progression, while ignoring or overlooking other aspects, such as rhythmic complexity. Different musical traditions emphasize different aspects. Most any Australian Aboriginal child with two hands can beat 3 beats against 2 or 5 beats against 4 with no effort, but western children struggle to do this. Keller, listening for subtle harmonic progressions, may have found little to hear in rock music. But he should not have been listening for harmony. He should have been listening for the the beat, or listening in order to dance to the music, or listening in order to lose himself (and thus NOT listening FOR anything). These are all important aspects of Pink Floyd, at which Wagner, to pick a classical example, simply fails. When was the last time anyone danced to Wagner? When did anyone hearing Wagner reach a state of trance? The same comments apply to minimalist music, whose very deep and subtle profundity typically arises from synchronic rhythmic interplays, rather than from diachronic harmonic sequences. One can tell this just by listening to it! If one is trained in the western classical music (or art-music) tradition, then one learns to listen for various aspects in music, such as harmonic progression, while ignoring or overlooking other aspects, such as rhythmic complexity. Different musical traditions emphasize different aspects. Most any Australian Aboriginal child with two hands can beat 3 beats against 2 or 5 beats against 4 with no effort, but western children struggle to do this.

Keller, listening for subtle harmonic progressions, may have found little to hear in rock music. But he should not have been listening for harmony. He should have been listening for the the beat, or listening in order to dance to the music, or listening in order to lose himself (and thus NOT listening FOR anything). These are all important aspects of Pink Floyd, at which Wagner, to pick a classical example, simply fails. When was the last time anyone danced to Wagner? When did anyone hearing Wagner reach a state of trance?

The same comments apply to minimalist music, whose very deep and subtle profundity typically arises from synchronic rhythmic interplays, rather than from diachronic harmonic sequences. One can tell this just by listening to it!

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