In his book, This is Your Brain On Music-The Science of a Human Obsession, Daniel J. Levitin says that “The chasm between musical experts and every day musicians that has grown so wide in our culture makes people feel discouraged, and for some reason this is uniquely so with music.” (p.194)
Why does this happen, why is there an ever increasing gap between the “music elite” and the “common musician”?
The gap between studied musicians and the every day person continues to grow for two main reasons.
1. Increased Specialization. Today’s society demands that workers are more focused on their area of expertise than ever before. Look at the way our educational system is set up: we begin our studies being able to pursue a wide variety of interests, then as we progress through high school, undergraduate studies, graduate work, and beyond, we are expected to narrow our field of study to one specific topic. This method of education often forces students to choose between music and sports, music and art, music and tech ed, etc. This leads to less time for the masses to spend on developing other skills, pursuing new activities, or learning material from other curricula outside our own.
2. The Technical Demands of Music. Levitin compares the division between musical experts and every day musicians to the division between experts and novices in basketball and cooking. But music is not similar to basketball or cooking because playing music (to enjoy it) usually takes a fair amount of practice. Even if you’ve never played basketball before, chances are pretty good that you’ll still have fun shooting hoops in the driveway with your friends. And novice cooks have recipes that they can follow to create a delicious meal (often on the first time). Music isn’t like that. If you pick up a clarinet and try to play it, chances are that it will be fun for a little while until the novelty wears off. Then you’ll probably get frustrated and ultimately bored.
From an outsider’s perspective it appears that music is all about the end result, while other activities like basketball and cooking are more about the process. Ask trained musicians and they will tell you that actual performances make up very little of their playing experience. Instead they spend hours each day for their entire lives perfecting pieces to play for only a few minutes.
How do we counteract the widening gap between trained and untrained musicians?
-Make sure that music remains an essential part of education
If school music programs continue to get cut, soon no one will be able to get free lessons through public schools. The music education available to most people ends in middle school (by grade 7). What we have is meager already, cut it completely and we will have a society full of people who like music that they hear but have no means of discussing music and identifying why they enjoy certain musics and not others.
-Create more opportunities for recreational music (town bands, jam sessions, song shares)
In the early 1900s up through about 1960, most towns had their own band. It was a social activity that allowed musicians of all ability levels to make music together. After World War II, these bands slowly seemed to dissolve as people spent more time figuring out how to make money, destroy the earth, and ignore their loved ones. Town bands could easily reform and give the many "hidden musicians" out there a chance to showcase their talents or at least participate in a musical culture to which they once belonged so intimately.
-Offer low-cost tickets so that everyone can experience live music
The closest that some students and adults get to seeing a professional group in concert is the high school performance. There are some really fabulously talented high school students out there, but nothing can really top the experience of going to a professional concert. It makes no difference if the concert is the NY Philharmonic or Jay-Z, Madonna or Carrie Underwood, Led Zepplin or the Boston Pops. One of the biggest parts of making a solid connection with music is seeing it performed live. Recordings are a great way to make music available to the masses, but something is lost in translation.
-Encourage youths with recognizable skills or abilities
If a kid wants to start a rock band, let them! Just make sure they still do their homework. So many students with tons of potential are unintentionally (or intentionally) stifled by their parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, teachers, and other role models. Music isn’t viewed as a lucrative, stable career choice, so most family members will steer youngsters away from even the slightest musical interests. Because of this, many people lose all desire to continue making music. But you don’t have to have music be your career goal in order to enjoy it and be a part of it throughout your life.
Music has the potential to be an enormous part of every person's life. It shouldn't matter whether you have classical training, taught yourself, or simply just enjoying listening, music is for everyone.
You know... my husband had been to orchestra concerts and things as a member of his high school band, but it was only this year (he's 27) that he finally got to go to a rock concert. He'd wanted too since we've been married, but time just never worked that way. At any rate, he went and couldn't get over how freaking awesome it was. You kind of forget how cool the experience is until you get to experience it again from the view of someone who has never gone. Everyone should go at least once!
We have several music type festivals each year where bans popular and obscure rock the stage for like 12 hours. It's awesome. Too freaking hot and crowded... but awesome :)
-----
Free books need new home.
~Fallon~
"If I fall asleep with a pen in my hand, don't remove it - I might be writing in my dreams."- Pace
-----
There is something so different about seeing music live than listening to it on the radio or on a recording. I don't think that you can really record a person's personality or current emotional state and do it justice. Seeing live concerts incorporate a lot more than just the auditory sensory systems, and that might be part of why its so much more...impressive.
"Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent." - Victor Hugo
Yup, I'm a music nerd.
"From an outsider’s perspective it appears that music is all about the end result, while other activities like basketball and cooking are more about the process."
I love that quote. It is true that as you conquer an instrument, you go through many many more frustrations and opportunities to give up than with a sport. But I disagree in how important music is to a person. Sure, concerts are a blast and music can do anything to you (relax you, pump you up, anything) but the world should concentrate on some more important topics.
For example, you stated something about recreational neighborhood bands, although this would be a good community outreach program, people today would never allow it to happen. It would be a waste of time. Imagine the possibilities of what a community could accomplish if they would come together for that same amount of time and concentrated on, instead of music, cleaning up the community. Music is time-consuming and the output doesn't outweigh the means. Music is fun, but it gets you nowhere. That is why parents and family members stifle music. Music should be left to those who don't have a bright future in other areas.
Please, please read this blog.
I'm hurt by your final comment that "Music should be left to those who don't have a bright future in other areas." I for one had a lot of other options besides pursuing a career in music, all of them bright. I'm not sure how many musicians you know, but I know quite a few, all of whom are smart, intelligent, well-rounded people who could have done anything they wanted to, but happened to choose music because it was what they had a passion for. People who struggle in school, who have limited career choices typically do not find success in the music world. A musician has to be able to interpret what a composer wants and someone who may have a hard time analyzing the goals of another person or communicating with others would not be a good fit. <-- That sounds like I'm saying that making music is only for the elite, but what I mean is that music takes a lot of thought, creativity, dedication, hardwork, and passion. Not everyone has what it takes to be a professional musician.
Also, music is time-consuming, but the end result is something that you cannot experience anywhere else. I'm saying that in order to bridge that gap between music elite and common musicians, a town band could help. There are tons of people who begin lessons and only continue through high school who would love to have an outlet for continuing to make music.
And musicians have a lot more power than you give them credit for. Just because music is fun doesn't mean that it gets you nowhere. Also in his book, Levitin says that Americans spent more on music than on sex or prescription drugs last year. Which means that thousands upon thousands of jobs exist because of the music industry.
"Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent." - Victor Hugo
Yup, I'm a music nerd.
I retract (partly) my last quote. I didn't mean that all musicians had no options for a future in other areas. With exceptions, like classical music artists, this rule is basically true. 99% of artists that you would hear on any station on the radio, except some classical artists, (that includes country, rap, classic rock, punk rock, r&b, teen pop, latin, anything) would not have had a future. Music as a career is different from music as hobby/passion, which I believe music is for you.
i do not disagree that there should be music education in schools though. I came up playing piano, viola and guitar through school systems and I am sure that it has helped me out in the end. I apologize for that comment and not explaining it to its fullest potential.
and your last paragraph on music being more of a business than sex and prescription drugs, that is a big problem with this country. The music of Billboard's Top 40 (Now! music series just dominates it) is not what one should consider music. There are maybe 5 talented artists on the top 40. That is an opinion of mine, but I deem it as basically true. And also out of the top 40, maybe 1, 2 or 3 could have had a successful life path other than music
don't get me wrong though, I like music just as much as the next guy. I only get upset that a lot of people overrate the power of modern music in modern life.
Keep writing and replying back to my comments, for the only way to be certain on an issue is to debate it
Wow! I am a semi-idiot. You are a sax player! You definitely don't fit the norm I was talking about. Are you proffessional or just a hobby-type player?
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/nharris1032
I'm hoping to make it a profession :)
I have my bachelor's degree in music education and I'm going to grad school this fall for sax performance.
So, I'm definitely not a hobby-type player but not quite a professional.
"Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent." - Victor Hugo
Yup, I'm a music nerd.