In grade 7, I was (re?)introduced to music. I wasn't curious enough to use Kazaa or care enough to download music on my own accords. In fact, I didn't really listen to music at all. That is, until I had a friend who started sharing Chinese music with me. We had dial-up back then, and I remember it taking forever.
Since I didn't listen to songs very often, I was easily distracted by the details. I told him why I didn't really like each particular song -- this part of the lyrics seemed so cheesy, that sound there seemed uncalled for, and that random bit of Japanese is weird... Oh, and please don't send me another English song! They're so awkward.
Did I know anything about music? Actually, not really. I didn't. All I knew was that the songs didn't sound "right", whatever that was supposed to mean. I was just like one of those arrogant literary critics who pretended to know.
Yet as I listened to more and more music, these details stopped bothering me. This seemed counter-intuitive at the time. Have I merely accustomed myself to mediocrity?
I'd like to think that at some time or another, I just got the point. There are different levels that I could focus on: there's the level of the individual sounds, and there's the level of the song as a whole. When I learn to suspend my criticisms (much like the "suspension of disbelief"), I learned to appreciate a song as a whole and became more forgiving. It was no longer about "how many things about this song I would change", but the appreciation of the message. I focused more on connecting with it, emotionally and otherwise. I could do that without the song being absolutely perfect.
"But the individual sounds are important!" Sure. I'm not saying that we should shun all criticisms. But sometimes, it is worthwhile to let the details slide for a moment, just to gauge the actual message being sent. The arguments might still hold regardless of innocent mistakes.
It's always easier to criticize than to create, but it's much more worthwhile to give someone the benefit of the doubt and to focus instead on the message they're trying to send.
End of Entry
3 comments:
it'd be interesting to see how you'd react to Bollywood music.......I know steven tried a bit - didn't catch on.
When first exposed to something new, they usually feel weird with its presence. Only when it has been exposed long enough would they adapt to it. This generalization applies in this specific case, but what distinguishes an amateur and a critic is the ability to maintain the similar mind concept when listening to more of the same thing.
When you criticized many elements of the song, your analysis is in no way incorrect. It is analogous to a stranger entering your room and pointing peculiarities that you have overlooked through years living in the same place. It is a good startup for constructive criticism.
But when you suspend your criticisms, it implies that you have submitted to the masses. When listening to songs, of COURSE you do not just look at specific parts of the song, but you must macro and micro analyze the elements. There are times where an element is out of place, which affects both the macro and micro of the analysis.
And then, songs can sometimes have messages and sometimes they do not. There might be implications to the existence of such songs, but some composers CAN put minimal thought when composing the song.
Indeed, criticizing is easier than creating, but if you suspend much of the criticism, there would never be better songs.
Also, they're not "individual sounds"... they're individual parts of the song. To acknowledge music as sound is really incriminating...
-sigh- you missed the point
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