music , mind , thought and emotion

Wow, I always thought the ears (sense) is closest to the soul, so is the music, so is audiophile people. Ya just have to dig 'em out. :-)

For most people music is a language. Especially since the almost global acceptance of the chromatic scale. 4/4 time is as common as typical speech patterns. Just as a sour taste makes our mouths pucker, certain sounds make us tap our feet or even dance. Just as artists have learned that mixing yellow and green produces blue, composers have learned that minor chords evoke pathos. Words with out commonality are appreciated by few. The same joke heard repeatedly usually looses it's effect. The same words used to create a new joke enjoys new appreciation. The combination of the familiar with the unique will usually enjoy the biggest audience. Hendrix may have created a new sound, but it was based on 12 bar blues. Stevie Wonder played the same music on different instuments (the moog). The harmonic complexities of the saxophone were origianlly played to traditional music. When the sound of the saxophone became common it gave birth to Parker and Hornathology. With out a common element it is most challanging to communicate (though not impossible)and at the same time a common element with out an original inflection becomes tiresome if heard too often no matter how profound or well(I know, rather qualifying)it was done. Music may seem more abstract than other art forms and yet it shares more than less with other art forms. This was elequently pointed out in the previous post re: colors. We can see comedy and tragedy, we can feel pain and pleasure, we can taste bitter and sweet, it should be easy to understand why we can discern noise and music. It's interesting to note that there isn't necessarily right or wrong in these contrasts and in fact they can in proper sequence compliment each other. While on some level we have produced tools that consistently evoke a consistent reaction, these tools have a shelf life. As the minds, thoughts and emotions of humans is not static, neither can music be static if it is to fullfill it's roll.
Now how mathematicians can percieve art in equations is beyond me. One day I'd like to gain appreciation of that!

Einstein: "In music I do not look for logic. I am quite intutitive on the whole and know no theories." So you're not alone Unsound.

1. Hearing is the very last sense to go before death. Babies already recognize the sound of their mother's voice by the time they are born. People in comas hear others speaking to them even though they cannot call themselves back to consciousness. Sound mediates human attachment. Is this why speech evolved as the principle mode of communication between individuals rather than, e.g. sign language?

2. Music taps into our emotional vocabulary directly. I am not so sure this is "learned". Soulful, joyful, noble, strident, melancholy, grieving, agonizing - we have an amazing consensus among ourselves about the particular emotion a musical passage conveys. Music establishes emotional state rapidly and unambiguously.

So, then, why does one singer's voice appear more beautiful than another's? What is a Stradivarious, or a Steinway? And why do we agree that some instruments are more beautiful than others? Why is Stan Getz called "The Sound"? What does he do while playing a sax that allows him to create a more vivid image in our spiritual gestalt?

I think the answer may lie in the sophisticated way we distinguish signal from noise using a sensor that is automated to drive the circuitry of human experience and survival. Probably a disappointingly shallow answer.

Ahhh, 6! You have now revealed yourself:)! Good for Matt... that picture of Jesus says it all!!! Clink