I don't need anymore explaining. Classical Music as it stands right now is not popular with the average middle class Joe.
(Wearing both moderator & poster caps in this answer) I don't think talking about racism is useful to the discussion here. But what is potentially relevant (if posters want to discuss it!) is the idea that reducing the overall "whiteness" of classical music would make it more appealing to the average Joe, who is, I suppose, not as white as he used to be.I recall there was a whole separate thread about classical music being racist and whatnot that millionrainbows started. I recall him making very similar arguments about diversifying our music education. However, I'm not quite sure if the topic is that relevant to the current discussion and was discussed has been discussed in a great length already.
Who's made such a claim?But instead of acknowledging the debt, advocates of Classical music prefer to think that their Western European music is a creation of their culture, ex nihilo, and is of higher quality than the music from other parts of the world.
In what ways were you lucky enough to get into music? Can you remember?Enthusiast.
You make a very good point about the importance of music in one's life. In my circle of friends there are two of us where music is a vital part of our everyday lives. I have other friends who like it well enough but it remains a peripheral thing, background music for evenings at home. They would never collect on the basis that I do and they wouldn't know Bob Dylan from Bob the Builder. I've tried introducing things I like to people but it is usually met with total indifference.
Although music is a huge thing culturally in the world in general only a limited number of people are real enthusiasts and they tend to actually play or have dabbled at playing at some point in their lives.
I can play a few instruments with some ability but I knew early on that unless I invested much more time than I was prepared to I would never reach the peak that my musical heroes rested on. I played in show bands, jazz groups, rock bands and they were good but were never destined for greatness and that was fine. Now I get my musical pleasure from discovering new artists, new music and new genres and rediscovering things that I had overlooked in the past.
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I suppose the point I'm trying to make, if indeed that's what I'm doing, is that the love of music such as we enthusiasts who frequent a music forum have, is at the end of the day, a kind of minority interest and the idea of encouraging people to appreciate our loves is anathema to me. If you have the inclination and inner feeling for it you will discover the joy of music for yourself. It shouldn't need forcing.
Sorry for the ramble but there you have it!
Well I didn't lampoon it. But then it was pretty much beyond parody. :lol:Earlier in this thread my post about the Colloquy about this very history, reported by the American Musicological Society, was lampooned as nothing more than postmodern revisionism.
Sad, really.
oh dear J13, I can feel all the respect I have for you draining away......During my elementary school years, in America, at a public school (the opposite of what it means in Britain), I was taught the viola, by my choice!,
Another round of warm fuzzies for, well I guess just about all of us. Over the many decades I have spent close to various classical communities, I have never experienced an elitist, 'our music is better than anyone else's' attitude. The overriding feeling has been a common wonderment at how magnificent classical music is and how lucky we are to have experienced and to still be experiencing it....If you are really concerned with advocating for Classical music, you would be well served to drop the genre-supremacy argument. In my experience, starting with myself, but reflected with many of my friends and colleagues, the biggest turn-off to Classical Music are its greatest fans. Their condescending attitude toward other genres of music, is received by other more open minded music lovers as an indication that the person pushing the Classical Music supremacy line is dismissed regarding their opinions about music in general.
Yeah, the idea that the masses aren't interested in much of classical music simply because of the "elitist attitude" of classical music fans is absurd. I've been to other classical music forums, and in them I've encountered a few people who appreciate classical music and non-classical music equally; they like to always blame on the "elitist attitude" of classical music fans for everything, like literally.Another round of warm fuzzies for, well I guess just about all of us. Over the many decades I have spent close to various classical communities, I have never experienced an elitist, 'our music is better than anyone else's' attitude. The overriding feeling has been a common wonderment at how magnificent classical music and how lucky we are to have experienced and to still be experiencing it.
I suppose the "finally" could be taken in the benign sense, but I think that's being rather overly charitable.We may have entered the period when Classical music will gradually disappear as its core audience ages out and finally dies off.
You seem to be implying that something is inhibiting Average Joe from access to Classical music. But in reality, nothing is. Anyone/everyone can access and listen to Classical music as much as they wish.I don't have a lot of sympathy with a view that average Joes (and Jos) should listen to classical music or even that I would like more of them to. But I do believe quite strongly that everyone should be able to access it to make up their own minds.