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Ricardo -> RE: Subjectivity vs Objectivity (Mar. 22 2025 15:44:48)
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It is both. A musical piece was created for "some reason", and in many cases, it is not even the business of the outside listener. If we experience elation from the sound, that is about the listeners and our experience, not necessarily the creator's "greatness" or ability to express something. Rhythm is a big area where we find an "objective" thing were you either get it or you don't get it, and there are ways to test that. So many people think they have a good feeling for rhythm when they are actually rushing or dragging or otherwise annoying someone else that can hear the issue.
But there is an objective reality at the same time. The "truth" let us say (loaded term). For example, in music school a composition class the teacher explained how a comission works, and in one situation he preyed upon the people hiring his work. For film, they offered to pay him "per measure", so he already had a long piece in 4/4, and he simply rescored it in 2/4 to "double his money". [:D]
When people don't have understanding, they miss out on what the heck is going on. You might like or not like some music, good for you, but if you have to work with other human beings, you need to "pull your own weight", as in there might be some objective, collective thing that requires you to have the minimal amount of competence to function.
Music is a wonderful thing that forces us to confront our own inadequacies, which can be subjectively terrifying or humbling thing. It can make people out right give up. It is objectively true, from my subjective vantage point, that if people educate themselves, do the hard work, etc., in music, they will improve their lives in some external way. Maybe financial, maybe fame, maybe simply a better understanding of something that they never would have enjoyed before that now enriches their living experience.
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