[FA Worldmusic] FA-Worldmusic Digest, Vol 18, Issue 17

[Phil Ballman]

>Good and bad are in the eyes of the beholders.

Sure, but isn't the value of all art subjective? "there's no accounting for
taste" after all.

> So in the end, if we eliminate labels and categories, how do we talk
> about music?

Easy: talk about _music_. Rhythm, harmony, melody, instrumentation,
arrangement, composition, structure, timbre, functionality, etc.  etc.

> I still think there is a place for organizing music and presenting
> it in a framework.

I agree, absolutely.

> (Heck, why call it music? Let's call it
> sound.)

I'd say that "organized sound" is a perfectly legitimate definition of
music, and one I've used in classroom settings frequently.

>The point is that with so much sound out there, it is
> helpful to create entry-points for newcomers to a particular sound, and
reference
> points for talking about sound when playing the sound is not feasible.

I'd tend to agree, but I don't think labels and categories are the only (or
even the best) way to do this. Also, in general I'm not too concerned about
making it 'easy' for newcomers. As Charles Ives said to a critic (I
paraphrase) 'when you hear strong music, get up and use your ears like a
man!'

> The question is how to create entry-points for people in (North)
> America to listen to music in other languages, with other rhythms,
harmonic
> structures, timbres, etc.

Remember the bossa nova craze? Carmen Miranda mania? Look at the new movie
'El Cantante'- Hollywood movie about someone who didn't sing in English.
What about the boogaloo fad in the 60's, or Richie Valens, or even today's
crop of Afrobeat bands? My point is, once again- it's either good or bad
(according to each listener), if people like the 'taste' of something, I
find that they adapt pretty quick.

>In an ethnocentric USA, is it really the same for
> global music forms as it is for other forms of music?

In an immigrant country like USA, how do you draw the line between "global
music forms" and "other forms of music"? I think it's impossible.


bests
Phil
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