Most valuable esthetic experience

Well, I guess it's an established fact. Musicians rule! :)

Post 1

Friday, November 1, 2002 - 8:02am

LOL! No Adam!

It just means that more musical types have answered the poll! :)

When I saw this question, I was thinking that it's a type of question that is related to describing people as either analytical, creative .. right brained or left brained and all that. LOL!

I'm curious about how people answered the question, what criteria they used to make their choice. I'll admit, I read the question several times each time I came to SOLOHQ and didn't answer right away because I couldn't decide!

Finally, I asked myself ... 'Self, what moves you the most, has generated the most feeling and emotion?'

And literature was it. I've laughed, I've cried, I've found great ideas, I've found inspiration .. all from words on a page. :)

Music has 'moved' me, but not as directly and not as deeply.

Paintings have moved me and even inspired me ... one painting helped me break my writer's block!

To me though, I find artists like musicians and painters just amazing and even somewhat mystical because I don't really understand that part of creation, it seems so much harder than just stringing words together. Then again, designing a building seems pretty tough too! Is it a technical thing then? Because I don't understand the mechanics of it, it seems mystical? LOL!

Interesting questions with many implications!

Joy :)

Post 2

Friday, November 1, 2002 - 12:38pm

Actually, I was a bit baffled by the question at first because I tend to believe that you can't compare the aesthetic experiences with each other because each kind of art brings about a unique set of experiences particular to that art. I don't tend to think of the differnent types of art on a comparative standard. I chose music simply because I am able to work with it and understand it much better than the other arts (though I like to study them as well). But I can't say from an audience standpoint that any one type has given me a more valuable experience than any other.

As far as composition, I usually start from just improvising on the piano until I develop enough coherent ideas that I am able to fashion a piece out of them. The process of improvisation remains a mystery. This is my best guess as to what is going on. When I am doing it, it seems as if there is a direct connection from my ears to my fingers. Since this leaves my conscious mind unoccupied, it becomes an audience member that is listening, and as it's listening it gets a sense of what it would like to hear come next so it sends suggestions to the ears. The ears interpret that information and compose music on the spot and send the information to the fingers, which makes the sound that the mind hears. And this goes on and on until I find a stopping point. I keep doing this until I find a combination of musical ideas that fit together that express certain emotions inside of me. Then I start thinking in terms of musical elements (form,key, tempo, instrumentation, etc) as I begin to translate my improvising into a musical score. I tend to draw my inspiration from many aesthetic sources and life experiences (a nice romp in the hay comes to mind... um, did I just type something... nevermind ;)

Post 3

Friday, November 1, 2002 - 1:42pm

Aha! See! That proves my point that questionaires and polls don't really reflect what is going on. *grin*

Thank you Adam ... it's funny calling you Adam as I'm used to you as Pianoman. LOL!

And thank you for writing about how you compose your music -- it makes a lot of sense described that way! There is a tremondous amount of technical skill to be learned first .. like playing an instrument, knowing the notes intimately so that you know the key that will produce what you expect. It sounds much less mystical this way. LOL! And it sounds like a tremondous amount of effort as well. A fun effort I suspect, just as I get lost in my own writing and lose track of time. :)

I tend to forget that notes have 'absolute identities' ... LOL! They sound a certain way and just like an alphabet, once you know the sounds, you can create, just as you write words to make some meaning. I just never thought of it that way before. I can't seem to recall what each note is supposed to sound like and had no idea pianos had to be tuned ... many years later, the one or two songs I could 'pick out' with two fingers sounded just the same to me. *grin*

I know that had to make you groan. LOL! I'm very musically challanged but that doesn't stop my enjoyment of music. :)

Joy :)

Post 4

Friday, November 1, 2002 - 1:44pm

Well my vote is for literature, however, its not registering on the poll because when I went in this time, the poll was already showing the statistics, and so I wasn't able to vote ?

So add one more to literature, with music a close second.

Post 5

Friday, November 1, 2002 - 5:25pm

My vote is for literature, with music as a very close second. While music can uplift a mind, I find that literature is better suited for the portrayal of heroes. While a piece like Beethoven's Eroica or Yngwie Malmsteen's "Icarus Dream Fanfare" are uplifting works of music, neither of them can say, "Here is a hero" like a novel written by the likes of Hugo, Rand or Goodkind. Music can only impart a feeling of the heroic, but literature can (and sometimes does) impart not only a feeling of heroism, but an example to look up to and reasons for doing so.

Post 6

Wednesday, November 6, 2002 - 11:59am

Well, I think some musicians are sneaking in to skew the voting! Literature was almost neck and neck yesterday and today I see that Music is way ahead again! LOL!

Post 7

Wednesday, November 6, 2002 - 12:27pm

LOL Are you implying something, Joy? :-\ Hmmm...

Post 8

Thursday, November 7, 2002 - 8:42am

LOL! Yes! You've organized all the musicians you know to answer this poll. :))

Or maybe just more people are moved by music than literature. *grin*

Which is why I was curious about HOW people are answering the question.

Unquestionably, music does stir the soul. Some good classic rock can get me cleaning the house with a bit of passion rather than dread. LOL!

Classical can be a wonderful accompanyment to a great many activities, and it can deeply affect me.

But Literature ... well, as Matt pointed out, that speaks to me, in real concrete terms and abstractions.

LOL!

Joy :))

Post 9

Thursday, November 7, 2002 - 9:39am

Hey, Joy, there's a little hole in your conspiracy theory: I play the viola and bass guitar and I still place literature above music. >^..^<

Post 10

Thursday, November 7, 2002 - 4:43pm

Oh! Drat! Dammit! Matt! LOL!!!

That's funny though, as a child, I played viola for some reason. :)

Honestly, I have no musical talent and I don't recall how I ended up playing that instrument as I rarely hear anything about it at all! I finally sold my viola finally a year or two ago.

I am having fun however picking out one finger tunes on this electronic keyboard thing we got for the kids at a yard sale. I can do a little of 'When the Saints go Marching In' and some other song that is popular though I have no idea what it's called. I think it's even a duet kind of piece and I only know the really simple part of it. LOL!

Joy :)

Post 11

Thursday, November 7, 2002 - 5:04pm

Isn't Sex considered an esthetic experience?

Porthos the Pirate
(Friendly or Unfriendly, You choose)

Post 12

Friday, November 8, 2002 - 5:35am

Well, I can play on key and stay on the beat, but I'll never make money as a musician, which is the reason I got into programming.

Post 13

Saturday, November 9, 2002 - 5:41am

Sir Porthos,

Our considered opinion is that, much like modern art, not all sex qualifies as an aesthetic experience. We are perfectly willing to accept, however, that your experiences are of a (shall we say) different caliber -- that is, if joy is considered prima facie evidence. Opinion is mixed over the extent to which "kink" is bound up in this consideration.

Post 14

Sunday, November 10, 2002 - 2:26pm

Who said anything about sex being an option?! If it is, I demand a revote !! ;)

Post 15

Sunday, November 10, 2002 - 4:48pm