CymryMusic and the Dinosaurs
April 4th 2008 05:51
A lot of time, energy and potato chips went by the wayside as I considered where to take the first step in the journey of musicality. There are so many aspects of music to think about, so many genres, bands, songs, instruments. ‘Where to start’, probably the biggest stymie known to man apart from how to open the plastic packaging JB Hi-Fi put around all their products without breaking a finger. Whilst I considered this problem I got to think about history.
Where on earth did music, and therefore musicality, come from? Surely Mozart, aged three, just didn’t get up one morning and think “Ho, I might tap out a few things on ye olde piano and oops! I made a tune, that’s pretty.” He must surely have been surrounded by it long enough for it to penetrate his very soul. I find here, despite my love and opinions on all topics music related, my knowledge in the area of where it all began was lacking.
Beginnings. Everything has a cycle. It has to start with human creation, doesn’t it? Whether you believe we are children of god, children of evolution, revolution or even alien experiments, somehow or other we all wound up on Earth in the distant ages wearing animal skins and saying ‘ugh.’ I believe scientists speculate humanity was first spawned in Africa and therefore all music was born from African music. I can just see it now; cavemen slapping their knees in time and ‘ugh’ing along with each other around the campfire.
But where is the soul? Why would they do it? I’d like to take a slightly mythological tact here and go with passing of information. Is not a song a story? Each and every song has a soul and therefore a meaning and they must be born somewhere, and I for one know that times tables are much more interesting when sung aloud to a well worn tape rather than read off the back of the toilet door.
How much easier to remember things with a rhythm! Whether trying to remember 6 x 6 or which animals are best for making pants, it is easier to remember things when they are arranged within a repeating rhythm. Discovery! Now campfire gurgling and knee-slapping has a purpose. Now, by learning and repeating and then performing this information in an enjoyable way, we retain information and also react to it. Therefore, a story, a song, a soul.
So as you sit around listening to your radio, your television or your mp3 player, give a thought to the cavemen who first experimented with the monotonal ‘ugh’, and the poor dinosaurs who had to listen to it until they got it right, or were hit by a meteor.
Where on earth did music, and therefore musicality, come from? Surely Mozart, aged three, just didn’t get up one morning and think “Ho, I might tap out a few things on ye olde piano and oops! I made a tune, that’s pretty.” He must surely have been surrounded by it long enough for it to penetrate his very soul. I find here, despite my love and opinions on all topics music related, my knowledge in the area of where it all began was lacking.
Beginnings. Everything has a cycle. It has to start with human creation, doesn’t it? Whether you believe we are children of god, children of evolution, revolution or even alien experiments, somehow or other we all wound up on Earth in the distant ages wearing animal skins and saying ‘ugh.’ I believe scientists speculate humanity was first spawned in Africa and therefore all music was born from African music. I can just see it now; cavemen slapping their knees in time and ‘ugh’ing along with each other around the campfire.
But where is the soul? Why would they do it? I’d like to take a slightly mythological tact here and go with passing of information. Is not a song a story? Each and every song has a soul and therefore a meaning and they must be born somewhere, and I for one know that times tables are much more interesting when sung aloud to a well worn tape rather than read off the back of the toilet door.
How much easier to remember things with a rhythm! Whether trying to remember 6 x 6 or which animals are best for making pants, it is easier to remember things when they are arranged within a repeating rhythm. Discovery! Now campfire gurgling and knee-slapping has a purpose. Now, by learning and repeating and then performing this information in an enjoyable way, we retain information and also react to it. Therefore, a story, a song, a soul.
So as you sit around listening to your radio, your television or your mp3 player, give a thought to the cavemen who first experimented with the monotonal ‘ugh’, and the poor dinosaurs who had to listen to it until they got it right, or were hit by a meteor.
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