Why We Love Music

by Carl E. Seashore

It is, of course, fully recognized that at his best the musical performer is not conscious of making a direct appeal for approval by others. His objective is rather that of self-expression and experiment in the execution of an artistic skill. He is often aware of a negative attitude in his audience, and he may take an attitude of aloofness or superiority toward the audience, recognizing its incompetence. Yet back of it all, there may be even a distant hope of approval in a coming generation or the critical judgment of the select few; but the attitude of the immediate audience or the public toward his performance plays heavily upon his unanalyzed feelings and moods.

The bases for musical praise and blame are notoriously inadequate, be they meaningless approval, empty flattery, or censorious criticism. A general attitude of spontaneous approval without knowing or giving reasons among listeners in general is praiseworthy as an expression of good will; but for serious purposes we must question the competence of the listener for the response manifested. The fault may lie in the listener's ignorance of the art of music, his incompetence in recognizing elements of merit, his failure to credit the performer in relation to natural ability or purpose. Praise or blame may also carry or miscarry in so far as it may wisely serve to motivate or discourage the performer on the specific issues involved in the performance. With the sudden popularizing of music, the incoming tendency is to associate music with the beginning of a scientific approach to the understanding of the music and the musician. This situation is changing at a gratifying rate for the good of music. It is worth while to consider in some detail the factors in this progress.

VANTAGE GROUNDS

Artistic insight. The extraordinarily rapid introduction of real music education in the grades and in the high school and college curricula, and even in graduate study, is changing the attitude of the listener by increasing his competence. Children and youth now hear more good music and hear it presented in such a way as to increase their understanding of it. At the college level music is presented as an academic subject, with primary emphasis upon the art of hearing music together with some knowledge of history and content of music. The training of high-school teachers of music has changed radically in a generation from the mere development of proficiency with an instrument or voice to a deeper insight into the nature of the art, its history, and its roles. At many levels well-developed courses in music appreciation have acquired a permanent status and have proved a good foundation for further penetration into the art of the appreciation of music. This implanting of points of view and development of esthetic attitudes in the academic instruction in the schools is hastened to fruitage by the popularizing of music for the masses through radio and phonograph as well as through the penetrating of the skills acquired in school into the home and social institutions. The popularizing of good music, where public entertainment in the parks and other public places is of good musical quality and furnished free or at popular prices, is a great help in developing a critical attitude even among those in other respects quite uneducated. Therefore, we may say with great satisfaction that training in the art of hearing music has come upon the educational horizon in America in a very promising way.

The scientific attitude. We are constantly impressed with the analogy between scientific insight into the nature of music and the corresponding insight in other sciences, such as botany or astronomy. A child starts out with an inborn capacity and urge for the love of flowers; but as a student of flowers he soon encounters many marvelous revelations. On the one hand his horizon is broadened by acquaintance with larger and larger classes and varieties. He learns to see relationships to habitat. He learns to trace scientifically the laws of their evolution, the methods of artificial breeding and development of new plants, and even the beauty in their usefulness. On the other hand, he turns to his microscope and discovers not only the external parts visible to the naked eye but the internal structures, their modes of evolution and development, even down to the discovery of the mechanisms of heredity through the genes, which are so small that we know them only by inference from what the microscope reveals. The natural history of music is analogous to that of such a material science.

This scientific insight into the structure and function of music goes hand in hand with the development of the artistic insight into the nature of the esthetic values from the point of view of the art of music. Thus the student of music is now furnished the facilities for increasing his power of appreciation of music and a critical awarding of praise or blame from two complementary points of view: a study of the art and a study of the science of music.

Terminology. The mere matter of terminology here plays a very important role, as is now being demonstrated so successfully in the recent developments in the field of psychology of music and acoustics. Take, for example, the concept of tone quality. Until a few years ago there was probably not a single adequate statement of the nature of tone quality in the entire literature on music; and yet this is the most important element in music. In the past the listener and the student have generally approached the subject in an attitude of acceptance or rejection of the unanalyzed impression, but often with no more competence than that with which the ignorant shepherd appraises the grandeur and meaning of the heavens above on a starlit night. The teacher, as a rule, said "This is beautiful," or "This is ugly," without being able to give the reasons why, for want of a tangible terminology. The teaching and development of tone quality therefore has wallowed in a slough of despond. Recent researches in the field of musical acoustics are ushering in a new era. The structure of tone quality has been dissected, and its parts have been adequately described and defined. This is leading to an improved musical language. The same is true for other musical concepts. Thus, through the systematic development of musical terminology, there will gradually develop a scientific classification of the various aspects of the musical medium which is essential not only for the learning of music but also for the awarding of praise and blame.

Musical talent. With this development of a knowledge of the nature of music, the scientific student of music has turned to the analysis of the nature of the musical mind attempting to assign specific roles to musical heredity and musical training and environment. Hazy concepts of the gift of music have been subjected to scientific analysis, experiment, and measurement. From this, it is being demonstrated that it is impossible to award praise or blame without taking a reasonable account of the innate fortes and faults of the performer which determine in large part the direction and limits of achievement or failure. The recognition of this fact, of course, plays its fundamental role in the early encouragement or discouragement of the inceptive musician, in the recognition of the purpose of his education, and in the motivation through training.

PARTIES CONCERNED

The pupil. Modern education has revealed the importance of a student-centered and student-originated learning process as opposed to the traditional and institutional direction of development of the individual. The question of self-praise and self-blame, satisfaction or dissatisfaction on the part of the child or youth, is of course of first importance both in the initial stages of orientation and throughout the course of specialization and achievement. Instead of imposing regimentation, the home, the school and the private teachers tactfully aim to assist the child in the discovery of his natural interests, resources and promises which aid him in the building of his personal convictions. But emphasis is laid upon the principle of self-determination in the light of progressively available reasonable facilities for self-appraisal. This refers both to the appreciation of music and to the development of musical skills. This principle of self-determination has frequently run amuck in the hands of progressive educators, capital P. But it is a fundamental and permanent principle for the development of personality and motivation in specific pursuits. The child will soon discover that in order to pursue his interests and satisfy himself in performance he may have to work hard, conform to requirements, be patient, and make sacrifices; but his first goal is to feel satisfaction in what he is getting and in the worth-whileness of the pursuit.