{"id":13580,"date":"2009-11-25T11:15:00","date_gmt":"2009-11-25T19:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.philosophyforchildren.org\/what-is-music\/"},"modified":"2009-11-25T11:15:00","modified_gmt":"2009-11-25T19:15:00","slug":"what-is-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/what-is-music\/","title":{"rendered":"What is music?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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Yesterday I had a session with two fifth grade classes (about 40 or so students), in which a local pianist\/composer came in and performed John Cage’s 4′ 33″<\/em> to inspire a conversation about the nature of music and art. In each of these classes, I had facilitated a session within the last couple of weeks in which we talked about the nature of art, including questions about whether art must always express emotion, how we know what emotion art expresses and whether that emotion is in the work itself, in the artist, and\/or in us, and what makes something a work of art.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan art be emotionless?\u201d one student asked in one of the classes. All of the students who responded wanted to claim that art must express emotion.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll art expresses some emotion,\u201d one student argued, \u201ceven if it\u2019s just boredom.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut how do we know what emotion art is expressing?\u201d another student asked. \u201cIt could be that we see a painting and think it\u2019s sad, but really the artist and the person in the painting were happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several students maintained that expression, color, a subject\u2019s body language, etc. all suggest certain emotions. Some of us might see the painting as expressing an emotion that is different from the one the artist intended, which led some students to assert that really the emotion is in us, and not in the art.<\/p>\n

\u201cArt just triggers emotion,\u201d one student declared, \u201cbut the emotion it triggers is in us and not in the art.\u201d<\/p>\n

This led us to a discussion about what makes something art. I wadded up a piece of paper and threw it onto a table. \u201cWhat if I said this was a new work of art I\u2019d just created?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell,\u201d one student responded, \u201cthat could be art if you were intending to express something.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay,\u201d I answered, \u201cso if I said this was my expression of how pointless life seemed, that would make this crumpled-up paper art?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d another student put in. \u201cIf you intended to express that, it could be art. But if I was doing my homework and crumpled up the paper I was working on because it was wrong and planned to throw it in the garbage, that wouldn\u2019t be art.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo can anything be art?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

In both classes, most students seemed to think that yes, anything can be art, though some of it is \u201cbad art.\u201d What really matters, most suggested, is the intention of the artist.<\/p>\n

When we came into the band room for the performance of John Cage\u2019s piece, the students were, of course, expecting to hear a performance of a traditional music piece. They were, just as students with whom I did this last year were, completely respectful and quiet during the performance of the piece. When it ended, they applauded, and when I asked them what they had experienced, the students observed that the effect of the piece was very relaxing and peaceful. One student commented that they had all been kind of \u201cnoisy and jittery\u201d when we all came into the room, and noted how calm and quiet the room had become. Others commented on the way that the piece had allowed them to listen to all the sounds in the room in a way they wouldn\u2019t have otherwise. We talked about Cage\u2019s intention that the piece be a \u201clistening experience.\u201d Is 4\u2019 33\u201d<\/em> music?<\/p>\n

Some of the ideas that came out of this conversation included the claim that for something to be music, there must be a listener, that even one note can be music, and that silence can be a kind of music. We referred back to our earlier conversation about the centrality of the artist\u2019s intention. Cage\u2019s intention in creating 4\u2019 33\u201d<\/em>, to generate in listeners a greater openness to listening to all the sounds in the world, was decisive for most students in their conclusion that the piece counts as music. I wonder if this discussion leads the students to notice more the sounds in their lives, and to explore whether all or some of these sounds are music and what makes them so. <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday I had a session with two fifth grade classes (about 40 or so students), in which a local pianist\/composer came in and performed John Cage’s 4′ 33″ to inspire a conversation about the nature of music and art. 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