What is music?

Posted on Sun Nov 5th, 2023 @ 17:28 by Alastair Temple

Chapter: All Hallow's Eve
Location: Music Classroom
Timeline: November 1992
996 words - 2 OF Standard Post Measure

The students had filed in and taken their seats. The normal cliques applied, small groups of friends, seated together, whispering among each other. After a while you'd start to recognize the friend groups, but Al wasn't that far yet. Instead he strolled in with that rock star swagger, hands in his pockets, offering a smile and a nod to those who deemed to look in his direction as he did so, on his way to the blackboard in front of the class. There he took a piece of chalk and tapped it to said blackboard to get everyone's attention, causing the whispers to die down.

"Good morning, class! I, am Mister Temple," his baritone carried well, even without him having to raise it particularly much. As he spoke he wrote his full name on the blackboard, Alastair Temple. "And I'll be your music teacher. Some of you may have heard of me, there will be time to talk about that later. For now though, an introductory lesson, which starts with a question. What is music?"

One student from the back called out "Boring!", which caused some snickers and some laughter among the other students.

Al merely smiled, waiting for the laughter to die down a bit before answering. "Correct! Some music is purposely written to be dull and boring. Some not on purpose, as well. But even music that's dull and repetitive can have a purpose. A goal. Think of nursery rhymes, they have melody. Very simple melodies. Easy to remember. Or lullabies. They have a purpose. And I'm willing to be that several here have fond memories of their parents singing them to sleep. They can bring comfort. Familiarity. Now, what else can music be?"

Emboldened by the answer one other student called out. "Stupid!" Again to sounds of snickers from the rest of the class, but less laughter. His previous answer had actually raised some interest among the kids.

"Correct," Al answered, again. "Some music is purposely stupid. Like this one, for example," as he walked to the electronic keyboard he'd finished setting up just days prior. There he considered for a brief moment, exclaimed "James brown is dead!" and played the opening chords from the 1991 hit song of the same name, by Dutch dance project L.A. Style.

"Now, I think nobody here would argue in seriousness that this is particularly good song writing, that it's going to - win composer and lyricist awards and go down in history as an amazing, exciting example of 'good' music," Al said making air quotes. "But that doesn't make it bad music. It still has a purpose. And when you're on the dance floor, it's an absolute banger. It kills," He explained. "Now, what else can music be?"

One subdued voice spoke, after a moment's silence. "Art?" Some murmur from the other students. Music? As art?

"Correct. Music can be art," Alastair leaned back against the back wall and regarded the students. "As paintings are what we use to decorate space, music is what we use to decorate time. As paintings can be beautiful, so can music. As paintings can be indecipherable, so can music. As paintings can be priceless, so can music. And if you don't believe me, try buying the rights to Bohemian Rhapsody."

Silence from the classroom. Agreement. Al knew he had them.

Until one troll spoke up. "But why should we learn music? Shouldn't we learn important things instead?"

"Music is important," Alastair replied, calmly. "Try watching Star Wars without the music," And as if to emphasize he played the openings chords and notes to the Star Wars theme on the keyboard. "It won't be nearly as good an experience. That goes for any movie. Close Encounters of the Third Kind, for example, has a melody as main plot point. The global music industry is a huge. People have made millions of dollars with their music. I'm still getting royalties for my own music being played on Headbangers Ball, on MTV. And people like Elvis Presley, Madonna, Prince and Michael Jackson are considered role models and heroes to many, many people. Even now, centuries later, we still celebrate the compositions of Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven and Mozart. How can you suggest music isn't important?"

Silence again. Three times they had tried to troll him and three times he'd turned it around on them.

"Music is many things. It can be a banger on the dance floor, or rousing in a classical concert hall. It can be sad, it can be happy. It can be vapid, or it can be thought provoking philosophy. It can be comfort, and it can challenge comfort. It can be sweet and romantic, or angry and spiteful. It can even be political. Take Child in Time, for example," and once again Alastair emphasized his point by playing the famous opening chords on the keyboard. "It's an incredibly powerful anti-war song. It expresses emotion that can't be put into words, that wailing that Ian Gillan does? That's expressing the crying of every mother who lost her child to war, screaming out in anguish."

He let that one sit for a moment before continuing.

"What music is, first and foremost, is an expression of the composer emotions. Music allows us to express what we feel, deep inside, when language is insufficient," Al continued. "Some of you will never do anything with what I'm going to teach you. Some of you will. But I know that all - yes, all of you are touched by music, can feel roused, or brought back down, can feel sad, or happy, can have your moods and emotions swung by music. And my hope is that I can teach you why that happens. What it is about certain songs that moves you the way they do," Alastair concluded, his serious expression giving way to a soft smile.

"Now, any questions?"

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