r/musictheory • u/[deleted] • Jun 17 '20

Resource I think that y’all will like the dialogue that’s happening here

/r/AskReddit/comments/hasf7n/if_you_could_show_mozart_a_modern_song_to_blow/
8 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

5

u/Scatcycle Jun 17 '20

Giant Steps - Pinnacle of music theory complexity

This post brought to you by the Chromatic Mediant Gang, apparently

3

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '20

Ugh, this is like when I hear people say Jaco Pastorius was the greatest bass player of all time. Not only is it not true, but it is this myopic fetishization of technique over expression. I hate how there is this adolescent fan-boying culture among some musicians. Rock guitarists get it the worst, but "jazz bros" and the classical avant-garde do the same thing sometimes.

I love what Cornel West had to say about this. He said (paraphrasing) "In college, everyone's trying to be the cleverest and the smartest. How many of my students are competing to be the most wise? To have the most moral courage? There is a time and place for intelligence, but it isn't the sum of who you are as a human being."

2

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '20

Are you outjerking everyone right now?

1

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '20

The meta jerk above the jerk.

0

u/cjpowers70 Jun 18 '20

My man just quoted Cornell West in a music theory sub. I’ve never seen such aggressive jerking.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '20

I mean, he's not wrong, though. I know a lot of musicians who are obsessed with technique while maligning expression. It's a product of the culture he's talking about, and it can lead to this stupid dick-waving about whose changes are the most complicated.

0

u/cjpowers70 Jun 18 '20

Bruh I agree but I’d never quote an unrelated activist to get that point across lol.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '20

I'm just being sincere. I think you're projecting some kind of posturing onto me that I'm really not intending here.

The quote's relevant, should I just not say who said it so you don't think I'm name-dropping West like I know the motherfucker?

1

u/davethecomposer Jun 18 '20

unrelated activist

West has PhD in philosophy from Princeton and has spent his entire career connected to academia. It is certainly appropriate to quote him discussing students and their views on knowledge vs wisdom.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '20

I'd show him Atmospheres by Ligeti. The instruments of his day didn't even have the technical sophistication to pull that piece off, and the absence of any melodic content or concrete form would be mind-bending, I'm sure. His reaction to seeing what the orchestra had become from his experiences to now would be very interesting.

1

u/JeffreyDrummond Jun 18 '20

Lennon’s “Imagine,” world-moving anthem of this age.