Friday, August 12, 2005
"Society of Musicians" - an interesting article
When I say I study music, others would assume that I "perform" music.
When I say I can perform music, they would ask: "What do you PLAY?", as if implying that performing music only involves "playing" an instrument.
When I say I sing, others are more likely to be less intrigued than if I say I play an instrument - as if knowing how to sing (in any style) is not as COOL or knowledgable as knowing how to play an instrument.
When I say I play piano, people would be less surprised or taken by it than if I say I play harp, as if piano somehow has a lower status than a harp because it's more common.
There are so many assumptions and so little examinations into those assumptions. I would recommand Bruno Nettl's article - "Society of Musicians" from his book "Heartland Excursions. In this article, he talks about Music School as a structured and unique society in itself with its own sets of principles that govern interactions and functions of various groups within the "society" - a phenomonon that is often observed but seldom discussed.
Nettl discussed 5 main points: 1) Music Communities 2) The Principal Classes - Students -> Teachers -> Adminstration 3) Classes of Musicianship 4) The Importance of Heritage 5) A Group of Ensembles
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1) Music Communities
- everyday contact w/ others in the Music Building = governed by some unspoken principle.
2) Students -> Teachers -> Admin.
- great gap between teacher & admin. once an admin, if decides to teach, it would be seen as a demotion.
- class structure => industralized model
* admin - funds, hiring, "owner"
* professors - labor
* students - "consumer"
3) Classes of Musicianship
* Performer & Academics
- emphasis on performance (& less on academics) when one talks about Music School; musc academics (eg. musicology, theory, etc) are expected to attend performance majors' concerts but perform. majors are not expected to attend musc academics' presentation on papers, etc.
- musc historian vs musc educator (one = emperical research; up-to-date; another one = general would be enough, don't need to be too strict)
* Singers vs. Instrumentalists
- instrumentalists: hold more esteem
- singers -> more women; women = more likely to play melody-producing instrument (eg. not percussion)
- voice -> perceived as a "talent", not a 'skill"?!
- voice/opera -> need to take lessons on techniques of singing + vocal literature + foreign language + study of vocal music & repertory => perceived as less autonomous/self-sufficient than instrumentalists
* Wind/Brass vs. Strings
- strings: expected to practice more; usually not in administration; more respected by audience b/c it's perceived as "pure art"; associated with great masters (eg. Beethoven, Brahms, etc.)
- wind/brass -> less compositions by great masters; repertoire -> more association with political power (eg. marching bands, etc.)
* Piano = King?
- large repertoire; largest # in music schools
- requirement for music students (at least moderate level); system of class instruction = most developed
- theory class -> it's the instrument used for instruction/demo
- # of technicians hired to tune/maintain the pianos = large in comparison to other instruments
4) Importance of Heritage
- "musical family"; belonging to a "studio" of a prestigeous instructor => important for career
- students often stay with the same instructor throughout their training in the school or even longer.
- "lineage" impt (eg. being taught by a student of Beethoven -> following the lienage of Beethoven)
- Identity of teacher & membership in a "family" -> impt for career
- competiting/studying with the "first chair" / prestigeous teacher = talent recognized by authority; get introduced to other talented students who are attracted by the instructor.
5) A Group of Ensembles
* Social Role
- education & entertainment
* Conductor
- politics involved
- "dean of the hour"
- prof may create ensembles so s/he could conduct -> can elevate stuatus; leadership satisfaction
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
> I'm a BA in Music (& Psych) - but BA in Mus has no performance component to it. So it's possible for a person to "study music" (ie music history, theory, composition) & not knowing how to perform.
> I took lessons on opera/voice for 2 years but when people ask me what instruments do I play, I can't exactly say.. I "play" voice. & If I say I do voice/opera, some may think "why do you need to take lessons on singing?" Singing is not just a talent; it can involve a lot of training and practice. Sometiems it's even more difficult than learning an instrument b/c you cannot exactly "see" your "instrument", you can only "feel" or "think" about it.
> I play piano, violin, and harp. It's so interesting to see others' reaction when I give different responses to the question: What instrument do you play? Sometimes people would say.. "let me guess... you play piano?" For piano, the most common response is.. "Oh..nice~" For violin, it's slightly better than that. For harp, it's often goes 'WOW! Really?" "What? You play HARP??" Of course all kinds of other factors play into that conception (eg. connotations, associations, etc.)
When I say I can perform music, they would ask: "What do you PLAY?", as if implying that performing music only involves "playing" an instrument.
When I say I sing, others are more likely to be less intrigued than if I say I play an instrument - as if knowing how to sing (in any style) is not as COOL or knowledgable as knowing how to play an instrument.
When I say I play piano, people would be less surprised or taken by it than if I say I play harp, as if piano somehow has a lower status than a harp because it's more common.
There are so many assumptions and so little examinations into those assumptions. I would recommand Bruno Nettl's article - "Society of Musicians" from his book "Heartland Excursions. In this article, he talks about Music School as a structured and unique society in itself with its own sets of principles that govern interactions and functions of various groups within the "society" - a phenomonon that is often observed but seldom discussed.
Nettl discussed 5 main points: 1) Music Communities 2) The Principal Classes - Students -> Teachers -> Adminstration 3) Classes of Musicianship 4) The Importance of Heritage 5) A Group of Ensembles
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1) Music Communities
- everyday contact w/ others in the Music Building = governed by some unspoken principle.
2) Students -> Teachers -> Admin.
- great gap between teacher & admin. once an admin, if decides to teach, it would be seen as a demotion.
- class structure => industralized model
* admin - funds, hiring, "owner"
* professors - labor
* students - "consumer"
3) Classes of Musicianship
* Performer & Academics
- emphasis on performance (& less on academics) when one talks about Music School; musc academics (eg. musicology, theory, etc) are expected to attend performance majors' concerts but perform. majors are not expected to attend musc academics' presentation on papers, etc.
- musc historian vs musc educator (one = emperical research; up-to-date; another one = general would be enough, don't need to be too strict)
* Singers vs. Instrumentalists
- instrumentalists: hold more esteem
- singers -> more women; women = more likely to play melody-producing instrument (eg. not percussion)
- voice -> perceived as a "talent", not a 'skill"?!
- voice/opera -> need to take lessons on techniques of singing + vocal literature + foreign language + study of vocal music & repertory => perceived as less autonomous/self-sufficient than instrumentalists
* Wind/Brass vs. Strings
- strings: expected to practice more; usually not in administration; more respected by audience b/c it's perceived as "pure art"; associated with great masters (eg. Beethoven, Brahms, etc.)
- wind/brass -> less compositions by great masters; repertoire -> more association with political power (eg. marching bands, etc.)
* Piano = King?
- large repertoire; largest # in music schools
- requirement for music students (at least moderate level); system of class instruction = most developed
- theory class -> it's the instrument used for instruction/demo
- # of technicians hired to tune/maintain the pianos = large in comparison to other instruments
4) Importance of Heritage
- "musical family"; belonging to a "studio" of a prestigeous instructor => important for career
- students often stay with the same instructor throughout their training in the school or even longer.
- "lineage" impt (eg. being taught by a student of Beethoven -> following the lienage of Beethoven)
- Identity of teacher & membership in a "family" -> impt for career
- competiting/studying with the "first chair" / prestigeous teacher = talent recognized by authority; get introduced to other talented students who are attracted by the instructor.
5) A Group of Ensembles
* Social Role
- education & entertainment
* Conductor
- politics involved
- "dean of the hour"
- prof may create ensembles so s/he could conduct -> can elevate stuatus; leadership satisfaction
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
> I'm a BA in Music (& Psych) - but BA in Mus has no performance component to it. So it's possible for a person to "study music" (ie music history, theory, composition) & not knowing how to perform.
> I took lessons on opera/voice for 2 years but when people ask me what instruments do I play, I can't exactly say.. I "play" voice. & If I say I do voice/opera, some may think "why do you need to take lessons on singing?" Singing is not just a talent; it can involve a lot of training and practice. Sometiems it's even more difficult than learning an instrument b/c you cannot exactly "see" your "instrument", you can only "feel" or "think" about it.
> I play piano, violin, and harp. It's so interesting to see others' reaction when I give different responses to the question: What instrument do you play? Sometimes people would say.. "let me guess... you play piano?" For piano, the most common response is.. "Oh..nice~" For violin, it's slightly better than that. For harp, it's often goes 'WOW! Really?" "What? You play HARP??" Of course all kinds of other factors play into that conception (eg. connotations, associations, etc.)
