Audiences hate modern classical music because their brains cannot cope

After reading this article, please read on and let me know what you think.

"Audiences hate modern classical music because their brains cannot cope," wow... how to begin? I read that title and a little crinkle emerged between my eyebrows. How can I take anything in the article to follow seriously with a title such as that? First, "their brains cannot cope" implies that the average person is a neanderthal, incapable of adjustment, comprehension, or understanding. Secondly, the word "hate" is uncomfortable, brutish, and down right wrong. Does the average person listen to modern classical music? If so, do they "hate" all the many different compositions that are so loosely encompassed underneath the "modern classical music" umbrella? I cannot believe that is true and here are a few reasons why:

1. Now, more than ever, music is more available and accessible by means of torrents, libraries, iTunes, and all sorts of downloads. Not to mention the countless ways that you can rip and swap playlists with friends. As such, the average listener has had greater exposure to a variety of styles and genres, which almost all have permeated modern classical music in some way or another. For example, electronic tape pieces like Temazcal by Javier Alvarez for maracas and tape is electronica samples infused with monks chanting and maracas. That is modern classical music. Is the human brain incapable of "predicting patterns" in that piece? I do not think so. My 14 year-old little sister, who is obsessed with Glee, would enjoy this dramatic and lively composition.

2. While the science that is support this article's generalization seems valid, it is out of touch with the purpose of music and even further from the purpose of most modern classical music. Modern classical composers strive for furthering the art form. Creating and performing music that elevates our minds and perhaps even alters them. So that when you leave a new music concert, you walk away with a sense of difference and removal from your "comfort zone." If composers based their compositions on brain patterns, well that is exactly what we would have-MUSIC THAT IS PATTERN-BASED, FAMILIAR, AND NOT NEW! How interesting, thought-provoking, or enlightening is that?


However, I do want to stress that I support this kind of scientific research. It teaches us more about ourselves, our conditioning and our natural tendencies. Those findings are informative and can tip us off to pattern-based behavior and expression. And if we understand those patterns, we might be able to remove our expression from the restrictions of our nature. We might be able to discover and invent and re-interpret our creative world separate from expectations. Oh, wait...I think that is a big motivating factor behind modern classical music. That the rules of tonality were limiting and could not always fully express the complexity of the world around us. Also, there comes a point where tonality can loose its effect. We know the patterns and we can predict what will happen in a piece of music before it is played. That is boring and uninspired.

Music is the medium by which we can express the inexpressible, the ethereal, and the unknown. It transcends the boundaries of language, culture, time and space. Thus, it should never be subjected to the microscopic lens of science as litmus test for what is enjoyable and what is not. The scientific research done on audiences is novel at best, it is neither conclusive or usefully informative in practical compositional applications. What this article did for me, was dredge up a lot of reasons why people do not enjoy modern classical music, but is that really helpful?

Modern classical concerts are some of the least attended and yet this article paints this art form as misguided and inaccessible. How does that encourage people to broaden their horizons? How does this help people break free of the patterns by which their whole musical enjoyment and aesthetics are founded?

It does not.

Femininity for me is a fine line that I tip toe on everyday. That line is impossibly blurry and in constant flux. Usually, my daily decision making process hinges on trying to be sweet, charming, and well-put-together and being assertive, strong, inspired, spirited and even what some might call bitchy.

When I was auditioning in NYC for a millisecond (8 days), I felt a shift occur inside me, completely involuntarily, my demeanor, my "vibe" subtly evolved. Maybe no one around me noticed, but I have noticed. See...I have questioned my outward image so much it makes my head spin...worried constantly about what others thought of me, how people would respond to my words and behavior, but even with all that worrying, I STILL didn't feel effective. I didn't feel like a whole person, able and capable of being taken seriously...ever! But I feel a sense of growth has occurred over the last 8 days or shall I say year (when I originally started my plans to apply for grad school).

Today a confrontation of my former self and new self occurred: The old me would deliberate for 30 minutes over which tank top was too "skanky" or if my boots were too attention-grabbing. Fearful of being manly, yet trying with all my might to not deemed as a slut, not to have men check me out or try to stay under the radar- and of course, as a result of all this internal battling, strange results would occur. Haha...it makes me laugh to think about it.

But the "new" me did not even think twice about what she wore today. She only focused on what she wanted to do. I cleaned my house, bought my mom a birthday gift, watched a movie, got food poisoning (didn't want that), wore rain boots with shorts, and had a good time. Liberating, exhilarating, refreshing, and a frolicking mess--just some of the words that come to mind.

I'm not interested in being beautiful to other people. Heck, I am beautiful. I like myself, I like my light-dark complexion that I can never find the right shade of foundation for (that's probably because I shouldn't be wearing make-up to begin with)! I like my body, I worked hard to get it. I like who I have become and I am proud to acknowledge that woman. She has struggled so far to come to this place of comfort. And I MUST SAY, NO ONE CAN GIVE YOU PEACE OF MIND. You have to discover it yourself.

My heart feels free. Free from expectation and more importantly, free from mental and spiritual constrictions that I have been self-imposing for a lifetime. I am in no way enlightened or smarted, really. I just have realized that in order to be the best person I can be, I have to focus on myself- in an unselfish way. All that I am responsible for is my own happiness. I cannot fix people. And the perspectives of colleagues, peers, professors, friends, and family would all greatly improve if I am happy and if I stop stressed over my projected self.

In the famous words of Clementine (Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind), "I am just a girl looking for her own f---ed up piece of mind." I think that's all I can do at this point- be responsible for myself and no one else. I just want to play great music for people, I think that's a pretty straight-forward goal don't you?

Re-Discovering the Music I Play

First and foremost, let me apologize to myself for never taking the time to fully research and explore a piece of music I have played. I'm apologizing to myself, because I have committed the greatest disservice to me. I think every piece that I have performed or practiced since I started my path to becoming a classical percussionist would have been much more rewarding and enjoyable for the time spent.

Secondly, I feel foolish for deciding to play such difficult, complex, and substantial works in my auditions without having thought of their origins or their meanings.

These conclusions are the result of an eye-opening experience. When you are sitting in a room after performing one of the hardest pieces of your repertoire and the professor of the school you are auditioning for says, "What can you tell me about this composer and this piece?"

Well, if you don't know anything...you can either lie or do what I did- admit that you don't have any clue! Haha. That's right. I did. But I do not regret it.

Perhaps when the rejection letters start arriving, my tune will change. But I right now I feel that I have just been afforded the opportunity to learn and grow.

Only my closest confidants know that I have felt only like a visitor in this strange world of percussion and classical music. Often I have wondered why I do play this music that I have no overt connection to? What do I listen to? Which musical elements speak clearly to me? Why have I decided to play music, if only to perform music I do not enjoy listening to?

I AM NOT SURE WHY.

Originally I found percussion through the marimba. An instrument that I would gladly die playing, because the sound is more supple than water, more sensual that the human body, more real than the earth itself. The marimba, not the marimbist or marimba music, affected my soul.

As a result of choosing the marimba, every other percussion instrument followed suit. You can't only play the marimba! Duh!!! And actually, I really believe that it is unhealthy for your growth as a marimbist to only play the marimba.

I was encouraged to pick up a pair of concert snare drum sticks and the kinesethetic connection was deep. There's no denying the simplicity and rawness of holding a pair of sticks and letting your arms and hands do what is most natural.

It started with sound. It should always be about sound. If I want to continue playing music and if I want to enjoy my life as a musician, I think that is where I have to live. In a place where my artistic priorities are clear.

So this brings me back to my Stony Brook audition this last Saturday. As I had just played my brains out, grasping and groping for each impossible note...the professor of percussion thanks me and then asks: "What do you know about the composer and this piece?"

You can imagine my mortification when I couldn't remember having spent the time or affording the time to research any information about the piece. How silly? Isn't this what music is all about? Yes and NO.

I believe you research so that you can understand...knowledge is empowerment. There is no crime in knowing. I wish that I could go back 6-9 months ago and research each piece I decided to play for my grad school auditions and decide..."Does this resonate with me?" Maybe I won't always get the choice to choose, but in order to make those choices you need to be informed.

To wrap up my tirade, thank you Eduardo. I don't know if you will accept me, but I learned a valuable lesson about music. About my music.

If each note counts, if each note speaks volumes of thoughts that cannot be expressed in words, then it is imperative that one knows as much about those notes and their origins, their meanings.

If I can help it, and my belief is that I most of the time I will be able to, I will never be uniformed about a piece of music I play ever again! And to tack on one more thing- I will never be this unprepared with my music ever again!