THE MELDING
You can hear it in the music of our time; see it in the appearance of those persons who write and perform the music. You can sense this strange power music has over mankind when you see others transported, as it were, by the subtle, . unseen fiber of sounds arranged to form the sequences we call music. It is an art form, and like all such patterns, it is constantly changing. Why can't we, then accept the idea that the music that satisfies one generation is, quite often, is not easily accepted by another. It is a continuing blend of that which has been, what is in existence at the moment and hints of what it might become in the future. It is a melding phase in our artistic nature.
Among the arts, music remains among the portion of our lives in which mankind has been, and continues to be more and more narrow-minded. We seem to decide what is to be excluded and what is to be retained more more readily, and more adamantly, than we do in the other art forms we enjoy. We, rather arbitrarily decide, as individuals, what we like best and usually exclude all that does not seem to meet “right now” requirements center “right now”needs, and, as a result we often miss out on worthy treasures others see in their true light and which they truly appreciate and enjoy. And, there is nothing that tells more about who and what an individual really is than the manner in which he or she sees the world of music in their lives or, tragically, ignore it.
Each generation modifies its music. Some of it cannot be changed, but most of it can be and it moves with our minds and actions and all such changes come about gradually. The mutations are often brought about by snobbishness by the individual's feeling that he ,and he alone, has the correct pattern. Far too often such a person reaches a cetainratin point beyond which he or she cannot go and that is where the narrow-minded-0mided concept of music become ingrained.
I like all kinds of music. True, I accept some toga larger degree than others and there are some modes which I simply do not comprehend and probably never will, such as today's chase ably never will such as present day ”rap” and much of today' heavy metal and acid rock. It will be some time before I can respond to either of those, I am afraid. That, of course, marks me as “narrow” in the judgment of those who say they do fine redeeming values; in such incuch co perhaps hammered o rlap dulcimers.
Much of such delineation come about because of the instrumentation available to perform various typoes of music,. Folk music, of the people ethnic groups, is usually confined to the fiddle, guitar, five-string claw hammer banjo, and possible a lap or hammered dulcimer, a mandolin and string bass.. Newer groups have electrified and added Dobro and arrays of guitar necks piled together and other such gadgetry. The established style has come to be called ”Bluegrass”. Other types of music evolved through multi-language and cultural aberrations, built on that basic sense of deep need of such expression with a host of variations. I have performed in various types from across the spectrum and in each of them it is possible to find some satisfaction as well as in specialized field such as church music and longhair classics. I played hillbilly. I played jazz of the New Orleans, Chicago, Memphis blues and Bayou weepers. I thought that Jazz phase was it,for a time, but big bands came along and changed the national music picture forever. There was tremendous variety of instrumentation which reflected different values in that era and crossovers and odd amalgamations which held for a time and prospered in a money-making, life-sustaining way. They toppled from within economically and became smaller groups.. .trios , quartets, quin-sex-sept and other "tets", doing nostalgia for the most part , then moved into rock . We went through a long phase of show tunes for a time and a star system build on a flood releases and later, albums and personalized CD's became the standard criteria for most music which came to be a blend of recent types.
That's about where we stand at the moment, on the fading edge the star album system a free-for time which has decried melody, meaning or motivation in music.
We will survive it all, however. Much of it is not as bad as it sounds.
A.L.M. July 23, 2004 [c774wds]
