Klarinet Archive - Posting 001276.txt from 1998/07

From: "Mary Sotnik" <marys@-----.uk>
Subj: Re: [kl] Classical Music and Young People
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 14:58:31 -0400

-----Original Message-----
From: Craig Earl Countryman <cegc@-----.net>
Date: 29 July 1998 16:02
Subject: Re: [kl] Classical Music and Young People

>I'm not exactly sure who was quoted because there was no name given, but I
do
>remember making a comment of this sort, so I will reply.

Yes, sorry, it was you & then Ed Lacy - I was doing some space-saving!

>There are forms of
>music that are bad, for example rap songs that use the f-word every line,
>sometimes twice or three times per line. I wasn't referring to country or
>something like that -- I think country is bad, simply because I do not like
it
>-- but to stuff that just about everyone, other than the audience it
appeals to,
>thinks is bad.

I get what you're saying and I think you've got a point, though I think it
can be a bit dangerous to say that a type of music's bad because 'just about
everyone' thinks it is, unless you yourself don't mind people calling
classical music boring (or whatever) because it's *also* a minority taste.

I think people like something (rap, classical, whatever) because it appeals
to them - they mightn't know why, but it does, and it's 'their thing'. I
think it's good to try to widen people's tastes, but if you think (rightly
or wrongly) that someone's taste needs changing or improving, you've also
got to be prepared, I think, to try to understand what it is that they see
in *their* music.

I don't like rap either and I don't think it necessarily 'sets a good
example' (personally I'm not too bothered about swearing but I don't like
sexism - I believe in the right of free speech but I believe in everyone
trying to get on together too). But I think people expressing themselves
through music is a good safety valve for things that can't be expressed
safely elsewhere (I'm not suggesting that everyone should always express
themselves freely *without* regard for others; but as people have been
saying, the only way to grow is to express yourself).

I also think that while it *is* a good idea to encourage love of classical
(etc.) music, it's dangerous to decide that the music someone else likes is
*bad* and that they shouldn't be listening to it (though if you do
personally think it is bad, *you* don't have to listen to it). I think if
someone's going to 'grow out of' rap (or whatever), they'll do it when they
can, but you can't force them to (though I'm not saying you personally would
*want* to force them to). I'm all for educating kids to be decent human
beings (whether they like rap or classical or whatever), but I think you
have to try to understand them first, and let them express themselves
(safely if possible).

People all have their own reasons for doing things and liking what they do.
If you had swopped places at birth (or before) with someone who likes rap,
and if you had been given exactly their body/brain/circumstances, it would
be you who liked rap and *you* might be upset and angry if someone disliked
your music, in the same way as many classical-loving people would be if
pop-loving people came along and made fun of them for liking classical. I
hope this makes sense and isn't too irrelevant. I have to say, though, that
like you I'd also find it a bit wearing if I was listening to someone saying
the f-word every 5 seconds (have you seen '4 Weddings and a Funeral'?), but
it's less annoying when I find myself saying it. :-)

Mary

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