Klarinet Archive - Posting 000254.txt from 2000/05

From: Bilwright@-----.net (William Wright)
Subj: Re: [kl] Tone descriptions
Date: Thu, 4 May 2000 19:27:56 -0400

<><> Bill Wright wrote:
I don't see how you can discuss the real guts of music without metaphors
which, by definition, are not unambiguous.

<><> Daniel=A0Leeson wrote:
Bill, I will happily use any metaphors you like providing you are able
to state unambiguously what the metaphor means and that everyone else
agrees with your meaning. <snip> But when we talk about the things
we do (presumably because we want to transmit useful information to
another person), I am of the opinion that using emotional terms that
have little or no agreed-to meaning is counterproductive. It tells me
nothing precise and only informs me about how you feel about something.

Yes, I agreed with you on this point early on, and I am not
disputing you now. Part of me does not know what "dark" means,
but......
....there is another part of me that does know, even if this part
can be easily overpowered by suggestion or confused by context (as in
the "play it brightly and tell the audience that it is dark"
experiment).
I guess my reason for posting was simply that the emotional content
of music is part of its fundamental structure, not just a fortunate side
effect. It should not be brushed aside as much as sometimes it is when
discussing technique and equipment.
But having said this, I would not dispute what you're saying any
further. I agree with you 100% that ambiguous and empty words can do a
lot of damage. As a beginner, I feel some truly deep frustrations that
musicians, including my instructor who is a really excellent instructor
and I wouldn't give up under any conditions, have been unable to tell me
more than "You'll know it when you find it" when I ask certain questions
relating to issues that musicians discuss in metaphor every day.

Cheers,
Bill

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