Music

Well, after reading Kenny's thing on music and after a lengthy discussion on music with my mom, ive decided to write a blog on music.

Music is a form of expression via sound.  It can be pleasant, beautiful, sad, angry, soulless, and many more things.  I find it fascinating that certain arrangements of frequency can alter the mood of a piece so drastically.  why is that a major scale sounds happy?  Why is that if you alter the components by just a half-step you get a dark sad sound?  Music is rather remarkable in this respect.  There are so many sounds to be had, and with such little effort.

As a musician, it is ever evident that sound manipulation is your greatest tool.  You dont need formal education in music theory or anything like that, you just need to know what you are trying to convey.  Writing music, especially is almost like playing God for a moment.  You get to create the listener's mood, you get to control their response.  If i want someone to feel happy when they listen to my music, i know what it needs to sound like.  If i want someone to feel anger, i can write accordingly.  Whats even more remarkable is that you can get music to convey complex abstractions, above the basic emotions.  For example, with the right combination of notes, you can make someone feel empty, or bitter.  Imagine for a moment, that you are standing in the middle of a street, long ago.  There are dark clouds above you, churning with rain and thunder, and the wind throws the Autumn leaves about you.  You walk forward, alone.  because thats what you have always been,  no one but you.  And you are about to get destroyed in the storm.  This image can be painted in musical notes.  Interesting property of pitch is it not?  More importantly, given this image, can you think of notes that would accompany this image?

My favorite scale, for the most part, is the diminished scale.  Its a scale that doesnt sound happy or sad.  It has pretty much no place of its own, except that it sounds wrong.  It sounds like it is lacking feel, or comfort.  No one can relate to the diminished scale, cause it doesnt mean anything.  But that makes it so intriguing.  In a way, this scale feels empty.  I love how it means literally nothing in a song besides a technical nightmare (if played quickly).  It feels like nothing.  But, interestingly, if used as a chordal entity, it has the most particularly unsettling, angry vibe.  It carries no tangible emotion besides anger.  And for this reason, i think i like it the most.  Even harmonic minor, which has a very dark sound to it, does not represent the pure rage that diminished can.  To me, diminished scales can turn your pure frustration with life into music.  No wonder this scale was called the Devils Triad by monks.

Thats all i got for you on this topic.  Go pick up an instrument, and learn some basic notes, and see if you can translate your emotions into sound.  if you can, you have just unlocked the secret into music.  ;)