What is your music philosophy?

THE MYSTERY OF SOUND (TMS)

What is your music philosophy?

Ethan Hein, Music prof.

Music should make you feel better. It should make life more tolerable. It's an effective treatment for depression, it helps babies fall asleep, it brings groups together and helps form romantic bonds. The music doesn't have to be "happy" or "pretty" to accomplish these things, but it does need to invite participation.

There is no such thing as a "musician." Every neurotypical human is born with a capacity for musicality, the same way we're born able to learn to walk and talk. But that learning has to happen through experience. Right now our education system is exceptionally efficient at grinding people's innate musicality out of them. The "musicians" are the ones who are lucky enough or motivated enough to be able to persevere.

Participation in music should be as ordinary as participation in cooking or reading or having conversations. It's our job as creators of music to give people tools they can use, to understand music better, to modulate their emotions and those of others, to soothe their babies and so on. Music is a set of tools for social and emotional survival. We the composers need to be good stewards and crafters of the tools.

© E.A Isaiah.