Music as analogy for LF photography

[Alan Klein]

I don't know Alan... I regularly decry the lack of literacy, both in the written word and in the appreciation of art and music. What you get out of a work of art, piece of music, novel, play, dance performance, etc. is completely dependent on what you bring to it.

How do we expect people who can't conjugate verbs, use the subjunctive mood correctly and only have a rudimentary vocabulary of mostly slang to get anything out of King Lear? These people have learned to speak, and likely to read, but not at a high enough level to understand Shakespeare's expression.

Similarly, those that only know music as four-beats-per-measure, three-chord harmony, diatonic melodies that span no more than an octave and simple three-minute AABA song forms will never get a handle on Strauß' "Der Rosenkavalier," not to mention Berg's "Wozzeck" or even Thelonius Monk, unless their understanding is expanded somehow. I don't think that comes automatically.

There is an analogous visual and spatial vocabulary that needs to be learned and then brought to visual art and dance (add knowledge of gesture and conventional mimicry to this latter). All that talk of golden mean, leading lines, proportion, figure-ground relationships, tonality, graphic organization, iconography, symbolism, allusion, etc., etc. isn't for nothing. They are parts the basic lexicon needed to understand the art works.

We may have a "natural affinity" for many things, but that is only potential. Without it being developed, we really end up without the basic tools and vocabulary to appreciate greatness.

It has ever been thus: the more culturally and artistically educated are able to understand more deeply and get more out of every aspect of art and culture. The fact that such education is now practically absent from our elementary schools only means that more people will be ill-equipped to benefit from the enjoyment of great works of art in any medium. I find that unfortunate.

Best,

Doremus

Reading is not the same as listening to speech. The first must be learned while the latter comes naturally. The same with music. A person without any music experience or playing an instrument can hum a song or whistle it and tap a beat. They automatically understand timbre, beat, melody. Of course, they might not understand the complexities of an orchestral piece. But the redimentaries are there. It's the same with photographs. People tend to pick the same photos as the best. Why? There has to be something inborn that is in all of us.

[Alan Klein]

How does one begin to learn about music, by extension in this discussion learn about expressive images be they photographs or paintings or similar images?

Musicians often begin by learning the basics of playing scales and numerous other related exercises_studies on their chosen musical instrument or similar with Voice lessons. This must included knowledge and skills in music theory. Technical proficiency with the chosen musical instrument often comes with massive amounts of practice, dedication and passion for mastery of the chosen musical instrument. Yet, there comes a time when the musician moves on from sheer technical proficiency of their musical instrument and develop their personal interpretation of any given piece of music.

Going back to a time before the Musical Staff, music was often written in Tablature for lute or passed on in much the same way as stories being told-shared. Think John Dowland and others for songs and melodies. Eventually, songs and melodies evolved into groups of musicians playing together increasing the complexity of melodies, harmony, rhythms, dynamics, timbre, texture, tonality and form. With more passage of time music developed into works like the Concerto, symphony to solo pieces for Piano, Jazz, Blues, Rock and much more.

Similarities of these examples carried over to photography can be found in learning how to use a camera and the technical aspects of making a photographic image using these technology tools. Then comes the often neglected and more difficult part of understanding this means of creative artistic expression. IMO, this is one of the reasons why photographers can be divided into Gear Centric then those who are creative-artistic expressive centric. To excel as a photographer demands mastery of both in many ways no different than an accomplished musician with excellent technique/technical mastery of their musical instrument and ability to personalize a given piece of music.

In both examples of accomplished musician or photographer demands massive amounts of work, passion, study, commitment and more to accomplish these life goals.

As for Bugs Bunny and Looney Toons/Merrie Melodies, Carl Stalling gets the thanks for setting-arranging so many classical pieces of music to those cartoons.


Bernice

My late friend was a graphic artist all his life and never took an art course until he retired. There are accomplished musicians who don't know how to read music. Art and aesthetic ability can be improved. But it is inborn to varying degrees in all of us.

[Alan Klein]

To move this into sports, my experience with sport indicates that a sport is much more enjoyable to view and better understanding can be had of the activities being viewed if one has a decent understanding of the rules, strategies, and athletes of the sport. Or is Joe Blow at the end of the bar being an elitist for knowing the batting averages of the major players in the National League?

95% of people enjoy music without knowing a bar from a chord. Do you really have to know Depth of Field to appreciate a photograph? Knowing statistics in sports, in-field rules on baseball, chords, DOF, etc are intellectual experiences that often have to be learned to be appreciated. But aesthetic experiences and enjoyment are inborn. WAtching Mike Tyson knock an opponent t to the mat requires no understanding of the rules to be enjoyed and to get the adrenalin flowing.

[Vaughn]

95% of people enjoy music without knowing a bar from a chord. Do you really have to know Depth of Field to appreciate a photograph? Knowing statistics in sports, in-field rules on baseball, chords, DOF, etc are intellectual experiences that often have to be learned to be appreciated. But aesthetic experiences and enjoyment are inborn. WAtching Mike Tyson knock an opponent t to the mat requires no understanding of the rules to be enjoyed and to get the adrenalin flowing.

"aesthetic experiences and enjoyment are inborn" -- correct, we all born with these abilities, but how those abilities are developed and grown are learned through shared cultural experiences and/or study. We are not born preferring western classical (or country-western) music over Indian or Chinese classical music, but as westerners, we are taught that western classical music is the height of human musical composition so far...at least for cartoons and Westerns.

I will agree with your last point -- watching violence and getting excited about it takes very little knowledge of martial arts.

[Michael R]

To move this into sports, my experience with sport indicates that a sport is much more enjoyable to view and better understanding can be had of the activities being viewed if one has a decent understanding of the rules, strategies, and athletes of the sport. Or is Joe Blow at the end of the bar being an elitist for knowing the batting averages of the major players in the National League?

Nice try.

[Michael R]

The more you know intellectually, the more you can appreciate the technical and/or contextual aspects of an artform. The visceral experience is something different. As one listens to more and more music, the range of things which he finds truly meaningful *might* broaden. The same generally applies to other artforms, which would include photography.

95% of people enjoy music without knowing a bar from a chord. Do you really have to know Depth of Field to appreciate a photograph? Knowing statistics in sports, in-field rules on baseball, chords, DOF, etc are intellectual experiences that often have to be learned to be appreciated. But aesthetic experiences and enjoyment are inborn. WAtching Mike Tyson knock an opponent t to the mat requires no understanding of the rules to be enjoyed and to get the adrenalin flowing.

[Vaughn]

Nice try.

Thanks! Five points for my team!

But it sounds like you, Doremus, and I are saying the same thing...so I'll give everyone 5 points...

[Michael R]

Quite the opposite, I think.

Thanks! Five points for my team!

But it sounds like you, Doremus, and I are saying the same thing...so I'll give everyone 5 points...

[Tin Can]

Human appreciation of music is in our genes, evoked over extreme time

Birdsong emulation may have helped us long ago

A whistle may carry great distance with code

Evolution is not done with Earth

[Jim Worthington]

Listening to jazz on the way to photograph seems to open my senses up. I don't know if it's cause or just correlation, but my best photography is when I see something that really catches my eye. To me, it's like a live jazz performance where the artists just respond to each other.