[Smt-talk] Fwd: the impossibility of listening

[Walter Everett]

I have found this to be a very interesting conversation because in both
some of my teaching and some of my publications I have discussed without
recourse to musical notation rather detailed and advanced pitch
relationships in the realms of melody, counterpoint and harmony (and their
impact on rhythm, form and color relationships) with numbers of different
audiences who lack training in score reading.  Many songwriters, performers
and just plain listeners have unconsciously developed ways of perceiving
and understanding tonal relations.  That much should be self-evident,
because the marketplace obviously supports and demands many different
styles of tonal music-making, some of it very sophisticated.  I've received
lots of private feedback from those without academic or any other music
training, and I find it very rewarding to have seen such strong interest in
the discussion of many matters of scale-degree relationships in the arenas
mentioned above.

I applaud the work of others who attend to matters other than the
processing of pitch and I have learned a lot from Abbate and
Parker particularly in the past, but I also feel it comes off as defensive
to take swipes at those who pursue other paths or to rule out as "nearly
impossible" the sort of outreach that require some foundation-building.
 best, walt everett


> Carolyn Abbate and Roger Parker: "...we wanted to write a book without
> reference to musical scores."
>
>
> --
*Walter Everett*
*Professor of Music*
*Department of Music Theory*
*The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance*
*1100 Baits Dr.*
*Ann Arbor, MI  48109-2085*
*
*
*weverett at umich.edu*
*voice: 734-763-2039*
*fax: 734-763-5097*
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