[MD] Music and the Moq
Mary
marysonthego at gmail.com
Sun Jan 10 17:23:29 PST 2010
Hi folks!
IMHO, this is what drumming is all about.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNGEXXyp4oo&NR=1
- Mary
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From: moq_discuss-bounces at lists.moqtalk.org
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skutvik at online.no
Sent: Monday, January 04, 2010 12:05 PM
To: moq_discuss at moqtalk.org
Subject: [MD] Music and the Moq
Marsha, Mary, Joe, All.
Marsha
> I stopped drinking many decades ago. I've stopped smoking. I never did
> dangerous drugs, but I have on occasion played with "non-dangerous" drugs
> (marijuana). In the end came a realization that even the non-dan gerous
> drugs might interfere with clear awareness, so I stopped that too. I
> still have addictions: books, laughter, marzipan, music, coffee,,, This
> was not social pressure, but a hearts desire.
Joe :
> > When I fly by the seat of my pants, I like to have a model or
> > direction-finder for where I am going. As a singer, I prefer the md odel
> > of the musical octave Do, Re, Mi_Fa, Sol, La, Ti_Do for evolution. The
> > thing about the octave is that there are two naturally occurring
> > intervals Mi_Fa, Ti_Do, at which any mechanical schema breaks down. If
> > a pitch is going to double in vibrations the last note of seven is
> > shocked, and looks to the mi_fa interval for support.
Mary
> > I am fascinated by this. Daddy bought a cheap Yamaha guitar from Sears
> > & Roebuck sometime in the late 1960's and started teaching himself to
> > play. He drove us crazy (Mother and me) playing "Wildwood Flower" over
> > and over again for years. I think he worked on it so hard because it
> > required you to learn pulling off and hammering on. Anyway, when I was
> > about 10 he showed me 3 chords (you know you can play any
> > country-western song ever written in 3 chords), and I was off and
> > running. Later on he showed me the circle of fifths. I don't
> > understand why it works, but I do know you can use it to transpose a
> > song from one chord to another.
This "seat of the pants" phenomenon regarding flying and/or music I
will apply to painting as well and wonder if not Marsha will agree? I
can't for the life of me tell "how to" paint, I mean I have no particular
opening, but like Joe I need a direction-finder (AKA "inspiration"). Mary
seems to regret not being able to read music and I too am a bit
ashamed that I can't "read paint" if such a comparison is possible? I
once had a school class visiting my exhibition - had promised to say
something about my paintings - but this became too difficult and I think
the kids sensed how embarrassed I was. I can tell about "literary"
connotations of a painting, if one of my "sail & steam" pieces I may
imagine some competition over the same woman from the two
skippers that leads to reckless behavior, but that's not what people
expect, as with music they think that a person who can read the notes
can play like Hayfetz and if you know "how to paint" out comes
Rembrants. My solace is William Turner, as head of the Royal
Academy he was supposed to give a talk on painting once a year, and
these were totally inscrutable mumblings.
OK, this was not Mary's point her story was great art in itself, and her
questions and observation on music's foundations most interesting. It
somewhat pertains to what I have been on to lately about "logic itself"
that along with some musical basics can't be violated without
everything dissolving. There was the philosopher who wrote about the
harmony of the spheres, i.e. that certain proportions must be
maintained for the universe to work. I agree with Mary about the 12-
tone scale music, if Schönberg is a representative here it's horrible
and an offense to my ears regardless how much the pundits hammers
on this just being a custom. I'm out of my depth regarding music, but I
know that when one comes to Greece one hears the more Eastern
"twang" the shifting of notes in some gliding fashion, but I believe the
basic harmony prevails
BTW regarding flying - and if Joe really flies? - there are the new
"unstable" fighter aircrafts, the F-16 f.ex, that are dependent on
computers to stay in the air, if these fail no pilot regardless skill will
be
able to fly it. How does this apply to music, painting and art generally? I
know that computers can imitate composers' style. If they can imitate
painters I haven't heard of, but perhaps, at least regarding modernistic
painting no one can see if it is done by a monkey, a computer or
human. If some harmonies have to be present? At least there are
some disharmonies that will spoil a painting and that adds up to the
same.
Bodvar
PS:
Mary again:
> > In a previous post I alluded to the fact that I used serious drugs for a
> > number of years. Tomorrow (January 3rd) is the 3rd anniversary of my
> > disuse. I have had the time since to ponder the nature of this. I am
> > of the opinion that drug use is maligned in our culture because it is
> > akin to cheating. I agree. Using mind-altering drugs to attain a
> > different state is CHEATING. This, I believe, is why most straight
> > people's unexamined gut reaction is negative. We should use the
> > equipment we've got, and not attempt to enhance it. I would love to
> > know what the MoQ has to say about that.
I'm impressed by Mary's candor and agree with her conclusions, yet
there are drugs and drugs, I don't know if alcohol is regarded one, but
there is (almost) no culture on earth that don't have this in some form
or other and as social lubricant it has a purpose, but to intoxicate
oneself for intoxications own sake is not for me. At least not when
painting. . The MOQ implications I leave here.
> > My problem with music is that I was a smart-ass. I absolutely do not
> > have perfect pitch. I can't tell you a true C from a true G to this
> > day. Perhaps a lot of that has to do with the fact that I never had
> > anything to tune my guitar to. But I can sure tune it to itself. All I
> > strive for is to get the strings to not be too tight or too loose, then
> > go from there. E A D G B E, or so they tell me.
> >
> > When I was 6 my mother started me in piano lessons. Ha. I never did
> > learn to read music, but if I heard something once or twice I could pick
> > it out. No problem. This is also known I believe as cheating. Same
> > with Clarinet. I was in the band at school and spent a lot of time
> > vieing with this other girl, whose name I can't remember, for first
> > chair. Thing is, I couldn't read music then either. I'd just pretend
> > to play through the first cold run-through of anything new, then pick it
> > up for real on the next go-around.
> >
> > I guess my point is (and I hope it's not on the top of my head :) ) that
> > I have had a life-long love of singing and playing guitar, but have no
> > understanding at all of what I am doing. I just hear music and it is
> > right or it is wrong. Is this evidence of Mary having a Dynamic Quality
> > experience? Same with rhythm. The drums are so easy as to be
> > ridiculous. I once remember being in a drumming circle with some other
> > heathen women friends of mine. I brought the whole thing to a halt.
> > Each woman would take turns drumming whatever she felt. When it got to
> > me I took off on some kind of jazz-like thing with extreme syncopation
> > (which to me is emphasizing the counter-beat, but I could be totally
> > wrong about what syncopation actually means). Anyway, I was off into
> > some frenzied drumming that was so - I don't know - complicated??? it
> > brought the whole thing to a halt. So what's with that? Where on Earth
> > does this come from? To this day I can't stand to listen to a certain
> > Aerosmith live album because they are off beat on certain songs. I
> > think they are either too drunk or too high to stay with it. IMHO.
> >
> > After this long tirade (can you tell you've struck a "chord" so to
> > speak?), the question I wanted to ask you is I've heard that the 8 note
> > octave we westerners use is not the only one. I haven't Googled this
> > yet, but I seem to recall that some Asian or Indian music uses a 12 (?)
> > note scale. Is this true? What on Earth? I can't even imagine what
> > that would sound like. Do they have notes that don't exist in Western
> > music? This profoundly bothers me because I can't imagine any music
> > with any other notes between the ones I know of. I mean, when I'm
> > having a bad day and singing off key, those are other notes, but that
> > just means I'm not in control of my voice, and they are BAD. Can you
> > explain this?
> >
> > I have no idea how any of this relates to the MoQ, but you brought it
> > up, after all, and I'm beginning to think that is DOES. Why do we see
> > Quality in music constructed using the Western octave? Is this a
> > learned response or a fundamental TRUTH of the Universe? What's up with
> > music anyway? Why do we respond so profoundly to it? Where did it come
> > from? Is it something of the Biological Level? I think it must be
> > because it is so universal; but, if so, what's the deal with these
> > different scales? Why are there scales at all? Why does a certain
> > chord progression evoke such an emotional response in us, but not other
> > chord progressions? They say music is mathematics. Yes, even my gut
> > level understanding of music agrees with that. Is music the language of
> > the Universe? If so, what scale does it use? 8 notes or 12? Is a
> > Sitar player more in tune with the Universe than me? And do you notice
> > how we use the phrase "in tune"? There is much wisdom in language that
> > goes unnoticed. I have a book somewhere about word origins. It is
> > fascinating. Those that came before us were not dumb.
> >
> > In a previous post I alluded to the fact that I used serious drugs for a
> > number of years. Tomorrow (January 3rd) is the 3rd anniversary of my
> > disuse. I have had the time since to ponder the nature of this. I am
> > of the opinion that drug use is maligned in our culture because it is
> > akin to cheating. I agree. Using mind-altering drugs to attain a
> > different state is CHEATING. This, I believe, is why most straight
> > people's unexamined gut reaction is negative. We should use the
> > equipment we've got, and not attempt to enhance it. I would love to
> > know what the MoQ has to say about that.
> >
> >
> > Mary
> >
> > The most important thing you will ever make is a realization.
> > Moq_Discuss mailing list
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>
> _______________________________________________________________________
>
> Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars...
>
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