# The Role of Music



## Nicksievers (Dec 20, 2017)

I want to open up an interesting topic for discussion. That is the why of music. 

I believe that today the role of music is very different than just 50 years ago. Mainly resulting from globalization and the internet, I see that music has become a medium of gaining cultural identity in the face of overwhelming diversity. This has it benefits and draw backs. There is a wide variety of music but it seems that the quality of a piece of music in many genres is becoming its ability to capture a culture rather than to have pleasing musical attributes. That is the way I see it. I am working on an essay on the topic. Here are some questions? 

What is the role of music today?
What has it been throughout western civilization?
What should it be?


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

I think music has many different roles (and has for a long time), for example the role of music in a musician's life is very different from the role of music in a non-musician's life. Some people care very little for music. Music can be a part of certain people's religious or spiritual practice, some people never use it for that. Some people dance to music, some don't. etc. Music has different roles depending on the individual.


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## Guest (Feb 21, 2018)

I'm not sure that music has a "role" or a "purpose", but I can see that one of its uses is to lend an identity to those who wish to be identified by it.

As a teenager, I used to subscribe to a magazine called Popswap and gained two pen friends. One by advertising my taste in music and selecting from the respondents, and the other by selecting from the ads based on their taste in music.


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## Star (May 27, 2017)

Music is something which appears to be wired in all of us apart from some people who appear to have no taste in music. In the west certainly music has been a chief means of expressing religious thought over the centuries in one way or another. During the 60s and 70s pop music lead the way in expressing and promoting cultural change. It is an incredible powerful medium .
Of course to some of us it is a wonderful firm of expression or solace


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

Traditional role of music has been social bonding - dancing around the fire, celebrating, mating. This role is still there today, young people going to discos to mate, to socialize. Beyond that, the role of music is just like that of the other arts (literature, painting etc) - to stimulate emotions, to express feelings, to protest (punk music).


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Nicksievers said:


> What should it be?


I hope you erase this consideration from your essay. There is no "should" when it comes to music or its role. Your question brings to my head the image of totalitarian control.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Bulldog said:


> I hope you erase this consideration from your essay. There is no "should" when it comes to music or its role. Your question brings to my head the image of totalitarian control.


I read once that the word "should" is always followed by a value judgement.


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## RICK RIEKERT (Oct 9, 2017)

Bulldog said:


> I hope you erase this consideration from your essay. There is no "should" when it comes to music or its role. Your question brings to my head the image of totalitarian control.


In a free society there should be no should be.


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## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

Examples would be helpful related to “cultural identity” in the midst of globalization. The subject is perhaps too broad to generalize... What is the role of music today? I’d say it’s about the same as it’s always been: to keep humanity stressed out by daily and catastrophic reality from going off its rocker. Music is an absolutely necessary relief, refuge, and force of regenerative healing, from pop to ethnic to opera. I believe all one has to do to understand its role is to look at the power of it in one’s own life.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

As Bill Cosby once "quoted" a philosophy major: "Why is there air?"


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Nicksievers said:


> I believe that today the role of music is very different than just 50 years ago. Mainly resulting from globalization and the internet, I see that music has become a medium of gaining cultural identity in the face of overwhelming diversity.


Music has always been an important element in cultural identity. You may be noticing it more because globalization has created a reactionary movement in which people look for ways not to be submerged in an amorphous collectivity. Identity is harder to form and to hold on to in the age of instant global communication and commercial interdependence, so people assert their membership in subcultures. Even different groups within large countries like the U.S. are "balkanizing."

Does this results in less attention paid to musical qualities? I don't see why it should. You can claim a certain kind of music as "yours," and still distinguish "good" from "bad" within that category. If there seems to be a lot more "bad" music out there than there once was, I'd be more inclined to blame the music industry which, like most industries, aims at the lowest common denominator and the easy sell. Repeat a musical phrase ten times and people remember it; they like what they remember, and they buy what they like. "Culture" is now a big commercial.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

If music communicates something meaningful to and or edifies the listener, I suppose that is one of its rolls. The ubiquitousness of music in modern society renders it meaningless. I'm not sure what the roll of insipid musical fare twiddling away might be while I'm pumping gas or standing at the urinal?


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

starthrower said:


> If music communicates something meaningful to and or edifies the listener, I suppose that is one of its rolls. The ubiquitousness of music in modern society renders it meaningless. I'm not sure what the roll of insipid musical fare twiddling away might be while I'm pumping gas or standing at the urinal?


I'm not sure what its role is either, but it appears now to be nothing but a cultural habit. Any time I comment on how annoying it is people shrug and move away. What's my problem? It's only music! But what is music when it's not intended to be listened to (leaving aside the fact that most of it isn't worth listening to)?

It's as wrong to subject people to this constant noise pollution as it is to make them breathe second-hand smoke. But quiet is apparently a disturbing empty space that must be filled. I'll venture that the true contemporary role of music, much of the time, is anesthesia.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Roles for music? Specifically, for classical music?

To increase the sales per table at fancy restaurants (shown by well-controlled experiments to be the case).

To augment the IQs of babies (far more questionable) or at least to sell CDs claiming this benefit.

To be enjoyed by mega-villains such as Ernst Stavro Blofeld and Dr. Hannibal Lecter.

To chase away delinquents from around convenience stores at night.

To provide soundtracks for TV commercials selling expensive consumer goods.

To accompany snooty British PBS programs about rich people living in impossibly large houses.

To give people with too much time on their hands something harmless to discuss on Internet forums.

I’m sure there are other roles, but these few should at least show the versatility of our favored music and, hopefully, provide ample justification for its existence.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

I think it's true that music is used for cultural identification by many people, but I think this has some negative side effects. Some people, myself included when I was younger, will avoid particular genres of music simply because they don't feel associated with the culture that the music belongs to. But once you free the music from cultural identity in your mind, you may find you enjoy much more than you thought you did. This may be what keeps classical music from being enjoyed by as many people as it could be as well. 

I also think music when attached to a cultural group or subgroup really distracts from the music itself. Sometimes when I hear people talk about music they like, they talk about everything but the actual music.

For myself, the role of music is, you could say, spiritual nourishment, though I don't believe in spirits in a literal sense. Most of life is painfully mundane. For me music is the main object, among a few others, that gives me a feeling of elation and fuels my thought and imagination. 

It's also a way to expand my life and experience beyond my immediate settings, if that makes sense. For example, listening to the music of Tuvan throat singers allows me to have a sensual connection with a cultural I would otherwise not have any contact with, at least for now.


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## Boston Charlie (Dec 6, 2017)

We know from the Bible that music has been long been central to communion with God: 

"Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.
Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.
Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.
Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.
Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.
Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD." (Psalm 150, KJV)

and...

"Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord" (Paul to the Ephesians 5:19, KJV)

Along this line, classical music began in the church with Gregorian Chant, later moved to the concert hall and then to electronic media. 

For me, I think of music as a spiritual experience, a universal language that communicates to the soul and transcends cultural barriers. Yes, as Ken OC has stated, there is a good deal of bad music out there (i.e. commercial jingles and so forth), but good music such as the Beethoven symphonies or Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, for example, reminds us that there is some beauty in a what seems to be a very cruel world.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I must have been hungry last night while posting here as i used the wrong spelling of role twice. But just the other day I had the pleasure of watching TV at the urinal in the car dealership men's room. I wonder what Thoreau would have thought about all this?


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Boy those rolls were delicious last night! Maybe that's why I shared them in my post? But no editing after 720 minutes. Who comes up with these rules? The ubiquitousness of television is just as annoying. Just the other day I had the pleasure of watching TV while at the urinal in the car dealership men's room. I wonder what Thoreau would have thought about all this?


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I had two rolls last night. They were tasty. No editing posts after 720 minutes. What's the role of this rule?


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## Johann Sebastian Bach (Dec 18, 2015)

We are bound by our instincts, and the strongest of these is survival.
We (homo sapiens) know instinctively that groups are stronger than individuals in terms of survival.
That's why animals form groups. Birds fly in groups, fish swim in groups, people tend to live close to other people.

Binding that together are many practices which differentiate one group from another.
So one tribe dances clockwise to a slow 4/4 beat, the neighbouring tribe dance anti-clockwise to a fast 4/4 beat.
That differentiates one tribe from another, giving each member an identity which is different from the neighbouring tribe.

Now, extrapolate.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I had two rolls last night. They were tasty. No editing posts after 720 minutes. What's the role of this rule?


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I had two rolls last night. They were tasty. No editing after 720 minutes.


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## Nate Miller (Oct 24, 2016)

you have to understand that there was a time, only a little over 100 years ago really, that if you wanted to hear music, you had to seek out human beings who could play. The idea of people talking or doing something else with music as a background was unheard of.

Even when I started playing, CDs had not been invented yet. Any live performer sounded better than the old record players most of us had. When CDs came out, that all changed. Most juke boxes sounded better than your average live music

I guess my point there is that it is hard for me as a musician to talk about a purpose for music when I've played in nightclubs with people talking, eating, shooting dice in the back room...that sort of thing

I personally don't see any of that cultural stuff you are talking about in music. I think that maybe you are projecting that onto the music. When I was a teenager in the 1970s, we had a great diversity of music then, too. I mean, Bootsy Collins is pretty diverse. World music, reggae, ska, funk, salsa music even the roots of hip hop were all there when I was a teenager. It was more underground and you had to get out and go find it, but it was there 

so what is the role of music?

In western culture the role of music is either for entertainment or for worshiping God. That's basically it. that covers a lot of ground, but music isn't going to end world hunger. As a musician, I can assure you of that.

what I always tell people is that music is a gift from God that enriches your life each day

But as a musician, my attitude is that music is a language. So if you can't play an instrument, then you don't speak the language. I guess that makes music an exclusive club for me in my world, which is as it should be


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## Nate Miller (Oct 24, 2016)

you have to understand that there was a time, only a little over 100 years ago really, that if you wanted to hear music, you had to seek out human beings who could play. The idea of people talking or doing something else with music as a background was unheard of.

Even when I started playing, CDs had not been invented yet. Any live performer sounded better than the old record players most of us had. When CDs came out, that all changed. Most juke boxes sounded better than your average live music

I guess my point there is that it is hard for me as a musician to talk about a purpose for music when I've played in nightclubs with people talking, eating, shooting dice in the back room...that sort of thing

so what is the role of music?

In western culture the role of music is either for entertainment or for worshiping God. That's basically it. that covers a lot of ground, but music isn't going to end world hunger. As a musician, I can assure you of that.


And as a musician, my attitude is that music is a language. So if you can't play an instrument, then you don't speak the language. I guess that makes music an exclusive club for me in my world, which is as it should be


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Test test test test


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## Nate Miller (Oct 24, 2016)

a little over 100 years ago, if you wanted to hear music, you had to seek out a human being that played music. Talking or doing something else while music was playing was unheard of. I mention this because I've played in a lot of night clubs with people talking, eating, shooting dice in the back room...that sort of thing

so after years of performing, I can tell you that the higher your ideals regarding the purpose of music, the bigger a drinking problem you are going to have because people just don't care.

in western culture, the purpose of music is to entertain people and to worship God. that's about it. That covers a lot of ground, but music isn't going to end world hunger. As a musician, I can assure you of that.


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## Nate Miller (Oct 24, 2016)

a little over 100 years ago, if you wanted to hear music, you had to seek out a human being that played music. Talking or doing something else while music was playing was unheard of. I mention this because I've played in a lot of night clubs with people talking, eating, shooting dice in the back room...that sort of thing

so after years of performing, I can tell you that the higher your ideals regarding the purpose of music, the bigger a drinking problem you are going to have because people just don't care.

in western culture, the purpose of music is to entertain people and to worship God. that's about it. That covers a lot of ground, but music isn't going to end world hunger. As a musician, I can assure you of that.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Let it role. I mean roll.


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## Johann Sebastian Bach (Dec 18, 2015)

We are bound by our instincts, and the strongest of these is survival.
We (homo sapiens) know instinctively that groups are stronger than individuals in terms of survival.
That's why animals form groups. Birds fly in groups, fish swim in groups, people tend to live close to other people.

Binding that together are many practices which differentiate one group from another.
So one tribe dances clockwise to a slow 4/4 beat, the neighbouring tribe dance anti-clockwise to a fast 4/4 beat.
That differentiates one tribe from another, giving each member an identity which is different from the neighbouring tribe.

Now, extrapolate.


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## jenspen (Apr 25, 2015)

Music is a neurological necessity. The brains of 98% of us crave music. 

The various sociological reasons for our preferences (as mentioned already in the thread) kick in as we develop.


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## jenspen (Apr 25, 2015)

Music is a neurological necessity. 

The various sociological reasons (already mentioned) for our preferences just take advantage of our brains' craving for organised sound.


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## jenspen (Apr 25, 2015)

Music is a neurological necessity. 

The various sociological reasons (already mentioned) for our preferences just take advantage of our brains' craving for organised sound.


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