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Music is "art"

N

Noseferatu

Feb 12, 2010
673
13
Hermitage, PA
#1
Does anyone else get sick and tired of the elitist, snobbish holier than thou music "art" attitude??? I'm not saying that music shouldn't be a form of expression..but I get sick and tired of people shoving the "art" bit down your throat, and that musicians should be "enrqptured in the transcendent art which they are creating" People who say that are usually highly elitist. Why can't music be fun??


In my mind, the only true "artists" are either classical or jazz musicians.


But my real question is, why must you be frowned upon if you're in a band and make "fun" music, but aren't necessarily making "high art"??


Anybody catch me???
 
#2
Noseferatu said:
But my real question is, why must you be frowned upon if you're in a band and make "fun" music, but aren't necessarily making "high art"??
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You're frowning upon bands that are trying to make high art instead of just "fun" music. Figure out why you're doing that, and you'll probably know why some of the other group may be doing it to you.
 
#3
I do improvised chillout music; a far cry from "high art" IMHO, but I approach it as working with [tonal] colors on a canvas. I try to develop a transcending listening experience -although, I'm primarily background, but I'm there to take the ambiance of the venue and hit it home. People feel good relaxing and having quiet conversations with my playing in the background, and when I'm in a major key, it can be taken as "fun" music.
 
#4
I'm not frowning upon bands that are making art at all. My comment above "Transcendent art:rollno:" was simply intended to get across my point that people who normally say that are highly dismissive of anything that isn't "transcendent(high) art", although I guess I should've put it differently. I'm perfectly fine with transcendent art but I really get irritated with snobs who dismiss anything that isn't "art".
 
#5
Radiohead is my fave band from the 90's. Van Halen is my fave band from the 80's. I put on Radiohead when I want to listen to interesting music. I put on VH when I want to party(!). It's about the moment; what mood I want.
 
#7
T. Alan Smith said:
Radiohead is my fave band from the 90's. Van Halen is my fave band from the 80's. I put on Radiohead when I want to listen to interesting music. I put on VH when I want to party(!). It's about the moment; what mood I want.
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And that's fine! Radiohead does nothing for me, but they are interesting if that makes sense.

I'm mainly talking about the bunch who think that music must strictly be about creating art and it can't be about fun or just about life instead of having to be all elitist.


I'm trying as hard as I can not to sound like an idiot.:D I'm hoping someone understands what I'm saying.
 
#8
Noseferatu said:
And that's fine! Radiohead does nothing for me, but they are interesting if that makes sense.

I'm mainly talking about the bunch who think that music must strictly be about creating art and it can't be about fun or just about life instead of having to be all elitist.


I'm trying as hard as I can not to sound like an idiot.:D I'm hoping someone understands what I'm saying.
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I think you are projecting just a bit. The musicians I know do what they do and have a "that's cool" attitude toward other musicians who are doing something very different. The only attitude resembling what you are saying that I have seen (and I will confess to having a bit of it myself) is toward "musicians" who seem to think that exuberance and volume are enough and any actual proficiency on their instruments is unnecessary.

True, if they do it long enough they will start to achieve some proficiency in spite of themselves, but I don't have the patience to listen to them in the meantime. :smug:
 
#9
Noseferatu said:
"enraptured in the transcendent art which they are creating"
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People who talk like this are pretentious snobs.

Music is art.

Anyone who says that fun music isn't artistic because it isn't technical enough clearly doesn't understand art.

It's like saying Lascaux wasn't art because Renaissance artists have a lot more detail in their work.
 
#10
ggunn said:
I think you are projecting just a bit. The musicians I know do what they do and have a "that's cool" attitude toward other musicians who are doing something very different. The only attitude resembling what you are saying that I have seen (and I will confess to having a bit of it myself) is toward "musicians" who seem to think that exuberance and volume are enough and any actual proficiency on their instruments is unnecessary.

True, if they do it long enough they will start to achieve some proficiency in spite of themselves, but I don't have the patience to listen to them in the meantime. :smug:
Click to expand...

+1.
 
#13
Noseferatu said:
Does anyone else get sick and tired of the elitist, snobbish holier than thou music "art" attitude??? I'm not saying that music shouldn't be a form of expression..but I get sick and tired of people shoving the "art" bit down your throat, and that musicians should be "enrqptured in the transcendent art which they are creating" People who say that are usually highly elitist. Why can't music be fun??


In my mind, the only true "artists" are either classical or jazz musicians.


But my real question is, why must you be frowned upon if you're in a band and make "fun" music, but aren't necessarily making "high art"??


Anybody catch me???
Click to expand...

Music is art. It just so happens that 'art' can also be 'fun'. Whodathunkit? If people are frowning on you for doing what you do then theyre just ********. People can consider what I do (Improvised Psychedelic Rock) as high art or whatever they want to call it. Its art to me, and I have a lot of fun making it, and I hope others have a lot of fun listening.
 
#17
Look, I like alot of bands, from Zeppelin to KISS to Queen to Nirvana. KISS will always be my favorite band purely because they got me into music. Why is it that such bands as KISS and Poison, who do what they do for the fun of doing it, and say themselves that they write about what they write about because they have no interest in writing about global warming or saving the whales are often lambasted for doing so even if they're doing so for the fun of it???
 
#18
Noseferatu said:
Look, I like alot of bands, from Zeppelin to KISS to Queen to Nirvana. KISS will always be my favorite band purely because they got me into music. Why is it that such bands as KISS and Poison, who do what they do for the fun of doing it, and say themselves that they write about what they write about because they have no interest in writing about global warming or saving the whales are often lambasted for doing so even if they're doing so for the fun of it???
Click to expand...

They don't do it for fun...they do it for girls, money, ego, whatever. Look there's 'music' and there's the 'music industry'. If you play commercial music, you're generally not required to be the virtuoso artiste, you're required to entertain. If you have fun doing that - all the better. But your payoff for doing this isn't going to be great critical recognition (well, maybe from Spin) but .... well.....girls, money, ego...you get it.

Artistes aren't out to entertain....they are seeking an artistic goal that they often don't fully understand themselves. They get bad food, naked lightbulbs, and gigs in dirty basements. If they're really good at what they do (good here is different than entertaining) they get some critical recognition and maybe a decent door take once in a while.

So, if you're bothered by people criticizing because your music isn't 'high art' then I can only think of two things: either you haven't figured out all of the stuff I just said or you might be an unaware closet-artiste with a nagging little voice in your head saying "they're right....you should think outside the box...." =:-)

bigtiny
 

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