I read a review of Frank Zappa and the And this week – and despite its negativity, it got me thinking about the ways in which our world views impact the ways in which we interpret meaning in music. Being simplistic about it – if one looks at the world through a Marxist lens, the chances are you will be suspicious of (what you perceive to be) authority (such as universities or academics), not to mention the ‘truth’ that institutionalised narratives impose. Likewise, if you regard music to be ‘absolute’ (when its beauty is itself), semiological (where it has the potential to refer to meanings outside of the music itself) or spiritual (where it has some relation to the divine) – your world view will play a big part in helping you decide what the music ‘MEANS’.
For me, as outlined in Gadamer’s ‘Truth and Method’ – real objectivity is impossible. We can’t help but ‘know’! However – we have to try!!
So – my question is: Where do the meanings of music lie – and how do we overcome the prejudices of our ‘methods’ to produce ‘truth’? I don’t have any definite answers to this – but am interested in ideas/responses.
A year or so ago, I wrote a blog about how the singer Rumer sounded like Karen Carpenter - and how the music industry could be seen to be using a proven formula (i.e The Carpenters) to sell the public music. This is not the topic of this blog – but more related to taking this theory back a few years – this time to the relationship between The Carpenters and the Les Paul/Mary Ford duo. I have been a big fan of Les Paul for most of my adult life – but have always listened to his records with a ‘guitar head’ – ie his amazing solos and use of technology for overdubbing. However, when one listens to Mary Ford’s vocals – they have, to my ears at least, a clear relationship to Karen Carpenter. For example -
‘I’m a Fool to Care’ (1954)
For me, this has not only similarities in vocal timbre, but also in the use of technology to create those amazing vocal harmonies, made famous in songs such as Goodbye to Love
Goodbye to Love (1972)
How high the moon
In both cases, these harmonies only exist in a virtual space – as they are multiple instances of the same singer/singers. I write this, as it is interesting to trace what I would call the ‘primary signification’ of influences such as this (where these is little difference between the sound and what it stands for – for me at least). Taking this thought process back a stage further – the same influence can also be heard between Les Paul’s guitar style (both rhythm and lead) and Django Reinhardt – see the examples below
The Sheik of Araby
For me, these sort of relationships can be viewed from two perspectives
1) the authentic influences of the artist, who have simply listened to the influence and therefore begin to sound like them (ie Les Paul and Django)
2) the music industry machine – where the artist is ‘told’ to sound like another artist or incorporate a specific style (examples to numerous to mention)
If an artist is fortunate enough to be able to be successful and portray their ‘natural’ influences – and these influences resonate with the industry,which in turn have the potential to resonate with the public, all well and good. My question is – are opportunities like this becoming rarer and rarer? Is it only possible to obtain success by positioning your music into a ‘category’ (be it sound, dress, style, etc)? I realise this is always been the case to a greater or lessor extent – so am interested in examples of music that break this pattern. What music is out there that is truly experimental and ground breaking?
Well – I finally got my copies of my Zappa book last week – so this will probably be the last time I blog about it (hip – hip……). I would really appreciate anyone helping with the social network side of things by liking/sharing/etc etc. You can read a sample chapter from the link below – and if you are interested in a copy – I think direct from Ashgate is the best bet at the moment.
Thanks to those of you that have given the book support over its development
This weeks musicology session focused on the relationship of the Elements of Music to Musical Form. I have asked students to consider the following questions -
Examples of pieces of music with unusual bar numbers between sections
Examples of how rhythm delineates form between sections
Examples of pieces of music which has the same chords for both verse and chorus
Examples of artist specific sounds
Examples of texture/instrumentation delineating form
Examples of how metre delineates form between sections
Examples of how sounds allude toward change of style for an artist
Examples of how sounds indicate a specefic place or time.
Examples of how musical textures outline the lyrics or a title of a song
Well – over two years since it was initially announced – Zappa and the And is to published in a couple of weeks. Ashgate have officially posted my introduction online – you can see it at here There are also links to the Contents Page and the Index. Ashgates’ Home Page about the book is also live – as is the Amazon Link. I get my copies next week – so looking forward to seeing them. Although it was not by design – the fact that the book is being published 20 years after Zappa’s death has a nice resonance about it.
I have attached below a 2nd presentation of my musicology class – which focuses on how we can analyze how music is produced in addition to the text (using the elements of music). It starts with a few questions which are inspired by Hanslick’s thinking – which can be over viewed as follows
¨Interesting to compare view to that of Plato and the late antiquity scholars. Greek Modes for example were deemed to contain emotion.
¨Viewed the ‘beauty’ of music as being its formal structure – contained no emotional content within its notes or referred by them
¨Influenced by Kant’s concept of being ‘disinterested’
¨Leads to some interesting questions:
¨Is there a difference between what a piece of music is – and what is known about it?
¨What impact does our memory and imagination have on our interpretation of music?
¨Is the meaning we hear in the music – or referred by it?
¨Do our opinions and words reflect reality – or construct our own version of it?
¨What is the impact of the author (composer) on how we interpret music.
¨What is the impact of lyrics?
Can music represent ‘real’ meaning
As with last week – have a look through the presentation below – and post any comments below.
Here is the final chapter from Zappa and the And – by Paula Hearsum – Zappa and Death. This is in fact the only chapter that is any sort of chronological order – but I felt it was difficult to avoid putting this one at the end. So that’s it – the book will be published at the end of this month – so watch this space for news of its publication. I may even be offering some free copies in a competition
The need for rituals throughout dying and death transcends cultures, religions and time. It is an innately human response to aid making sense of this part of the life cycle to turn to both words and music – funerals, for instance, use both. As Zappa was a verbally articulate and outspoken musical performer, the mediation of his dying and death offers a potent possibility to examine the perception of his musical legacy through his obituaries and coverage of his death. They yield more than data and statistics, offering a dual reflection: both how Zappa is held within the musical arena as well as a societal snapshot of views on death. This chapter explores the extent to which journalistic coverage, through the examination of Zappa’s dying and death, reflects and shapes the reality of a life-lived and sheds light on social views of death culturally and historically. The chapter will also examine the social functions of journalism’s coverage of Zappa’s death through news and obituaries, sample broadsheet and music press articles, in addition to considering the utilisation of news values and ideologies that create our collective memory of Zappa’s legacy.
Zappa’s famous quotation to Rolling Stone, about the music press, was indicative of his position on the role of the media in general and music journalists specifically.
‘Most rock journalism is people who can’t write, interviewing people who can’t talk, for people who
can’t read’.
Whilst his opinion of journalism was often less than favourable, it is questionable whether he would find the irony that his death and continuing legacy has been documented for posterity within the press. Popular music’s more generic relationship with the subject of death has been extensively intertwined – not only in terms of its content but also within the statistical spike that forms the basis of the live fast die young cliché to which journalists use as a metaphoric device. The desire and increasing curiosity for a critical insight into the mediation of this final rite of passage is however, a relatively recent phenomenon in terms of academic engagement. Through an analysis of the news articles of Zappa’s last years living with prostate cancer and his obituaries, the chapter will seek to demonstrate how a life is renegotiated in the re-presentation of a particular type of death and how that in turn, is a reflection of society.
