Using what we do not understand

Carl replied to Kraig:
________________________________________________________________________
Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2005 09:40:57 -0700
From: Carl Lumma <ekin@...>
Subject: Re: Digest Number 3484

Kraig wrote...
> Personally , i have concentrated on the fact that other cultures
>more often than not use different tuning because one can easily play
>examples of such and impress people with the fact that these other
>systems can and do produce some very beautiful music. We live in a
>culture where most of us use things all the time that we do not
>understand why and how they work, so in one sense we cannot blame the
>hordes for not understanding what lies in front of them.

[YA] Hear! Hear! And as any successful educator knows, people
will learn only what they want to, and only when they are ready.
If they don't see a need to understand musical tuning, what motive
would they have?

Carl replied (to Kraig):
> That's a good point. I'm reminded of the fact that many drivers do
> not have the slightest clue how a car works.

[YA] Exactly! And many a good musician knows when his instrument
sounds right, but doesn't understand the barest mechanical facts
about how it produces those sounds. If it's broke, he asks a mechanic
to fix it. Don't ask him "What's wrong?"; he's already projected an
SEP field (*) over it to make it vanish.

(*) "Somebody Else's Problem field", in "Hitchhiker's Guide to the
Universe" by Douglas Adams.

Carl replied to Kraig:
> In one of the earlier episodes of Star Trek the Next Generation,
> they come across a seeming utopia. Everything is run by this
> computer built so long ago, nobody remembers how it works. The
> problem is, the utopians are becoming sterile, so they kidnap
> the children onboard the Enterprise. The rest of the crew figures
> out that the computer emits radiation that, over the course of
> generations, made the utopians sterile. They convince the utopians
> to shut down their computer and give back the kids. But now the
> utopians must learn how to do everything for themselves again.

[YA] Carl, that's an interesting parable. Have you ever thought
just how we'd fare if modern economies and production systems
broke down? Most of us would be in dire trouble trying to feed
ourselves, or get clean drinking water, after only a week. To a
greater or lesser extent, most musicians depend on others to be
able to go on making music - especially if they make a living from
it.

From the point of view of encouraging at least an awareness of
our interdependence, if not exactly promoting a musical
survivalism :-), it's good that we have a pool of specialised tuning
knowledge and cognoscenti in this forum, and it's good that we
endeavour to show others at least a glimpse of the hidden depths
that lie beneath modern music-making.

I think that any musical education that doesn't include both the
making of instruments - however simple - and their playing - must
necessarily fail to instil the least "appreciation" for music.

Regards,
Yahya

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