CymryIn the Beginning
April 3rd 2008 04:21
What is musicality?
The dictionary defines it simply as "Of music". Are we not all children of music? After all, it surrounds us in our everyday lives, from the very subtle sound of bubbles in the fish tank to the much more complex mixture of instruments and linguistic acrobatics that is broadcast across our radio airwaves.
Musicality covers everything music is, both in physical and sentimental form, for artists and listeners alike. The tapping of a foot to a trippy beat, the humming along to the guitar, the off-key singing at the top of our lungs while we’re driving in the car where nobody can hear us. Tuning the violin, practising the piano to get the chords just so, warbling in our bedrooms to the tape our singing teacher gave us to practice the proper mouth sounds. All of these are examples of what musicality can be.
It is so easy to judge music, especially in a day and age where we pass judgement on all things with barely a glance. There is no need to explore meaning, no need to explore motivation, no need to even bother listening to the full repertoire an artist offers; for if you’ve heard five seconds of one song, well then surely you’ve heard them all. Older generations willingly sacrifice the music of today to the gods of repetition and plagiarism; younger generations happily retaliate by treating any older music with the true scorn they believe it deserves.
Rappers only rap, pop singers are fakers, alternative bands are only worth their salt before they become mainstream and of course classical music is only for our nanas. There are a plethora of opinionated critics out there with these grudges and more, and sadly they far outnumber those who are willing to listen, look, probe and poke until they discover what moves within the song, the album, the band, the music. What makes it real. What makes us love it, hate it, cry and laugh along with it.
So what is musicality? At the end of the rant, is the answer any clearer? If I had to offer forward my own beliefs, both as listener, artist, singer and songwriter, I would say… soul. Musicality is the soul of the music. The very core of the onion, the hidden smarties in the easter egg that everyone finds by accident.
Seems so simple, doesn’t it? And yet is it, really? Is anything ever so simple that we can categorise it in a word, a sentence? Put it in a box, label it, file it, come back later. Is it still the same? A soul moves, changes, evolves. Has many facets, each as interesting as the last. So come along, don’t be afraid, let’s peel an onion. Let’s all undress until we find the truth of it. Stand naked at the top of the waterslide and take that last step forward into the world of musicality.
I dare you.
The dictionary defines it simply as "Of music". Are we not all children of music? After all, it surrounds us in our everyday lives, from the very subtle sound of bubbles in the fish tank to the much more complex mixture of instruments and linguistic acrobatics that is broadcast across our radio airwaves.
Musicality covers everything music is, both in physical and sentimental form, for artists and listeners alike. The tapping of a foot to a trippy beat, the humming along to the guitar, the off-key singing at the top of our lungs while we’re driving in the car where nobody can hear us. Tuning the violin, practising the piano to get the chords just so, warbling in our bedrooms to the tape our singing teacher gave us to practice the proper mouth sounds. All of these are examples of what musicality can be.
It is so easy to judge music, especially in a day and age where we pass judgement on all things with barely a glance. There is no need to explore meaning, no need to explore motivation, no need to even bother listening to the full repertoire an artist offers; for if you’ve heard five seconds of one song, well then surely you’ve heard them all. Older generations willingly sacrifice the music of today to the gods of repetition and plagiarism; younger generations happily retaliate by treating any older music with the true scorn they believe it deserves.
Rappers only rap, pop singers are fakers, alternative bands are only worth their salt before they become mainstream and of course classical music is only for our nanas. There are a plethora of opinionated critics out there with these grudges and more, and sadly they far outnumber those who are willing to listen, look, probe and poke until they discover what moves within the song, the album, the band, the music. What makes it real. What makes us love it, hate it, cry and laugh along with it.
So what is musicality? At the end of the rant, is the answer any clearer? If I had to offer forward my own beliefs, both as listener, artist, singer and songwriter, I would say… soul. Musicality is the soul of the music. The very core of the onion, the hidden smarties in the easter egg that everyone finds by accident.
Seems so simple, doesn’t it? And yet is it, really? Is anything ever so simple that we can categorise it in a word, a sentence? Put it in a box, label it, file it, come back later. Is it still the same? A soul moves, changes, evolves. Has many facets, each as interesting as the last. So come along, don’t be afraid, let’s peel an onion. Let’s all undress until we find the truth of it. Stand naked at the top of the waterslide and take that last step forward into the world of musicality.
I dare you.
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