Music What is the relationship between music and behavior?

[Flexor]

As someone who works with dance music everyday, I feel that I must correct a few misconceptions on your part. Please excuse the long post, but there is a point to all these descriptions.

The biggest impact music has had in Northern Ireland has been the annoying repetitive dance/rave music.

Firstly, just from this sentence, I can tell that you don't know much about dance music, which is understandable if you don't like the genre.

There are douzens of genres of dance, but just for the sake of simplifying things, I'll narrow it down to the basics. People who generally don't know much about this kind of music tend to classify it as "all the same", because you instinctively catch on to the most predominant element of the sound (in this case, the kickdrums on every time and hats on every countertime). You might be surprised by this, but as a producer (and connaisseur) of dance, I can tell you that your average dance track, with the general exception of house music, is in fact (musically) less repetitive than most rock.

The general genres would be:

(Non-progressive) House music
Trance
Goa/psychadelic

Some of these genres can be as different from each other as metal is to bethoven. Which is how I knew from your generalization that you weren't very familiar with this sort of music. What makes them similar is their basic structures; 4/4 rhythm with kickdrums on every time, over arrangements of 32 beats (commonly called phrases in dance lingo).

House is generally repetitive (probably what you've heard). You'll usually find the same pattern repeating itself constantly. It's a common and very popular sound you'll find at pretty much all nightclubs or raves.

Trance is a singular element constantly undergoing evolution. It features a typically much more complex and emotionally charged melody. From it's earliest point, tension is built and then released.

Goa and psychadelic are somewhat similar to trance, but are usually much more abstract and complex. The main element isn't always driven by melodic instruments. I can be an array of strange sounds forming a pattern. This is the kind of music that people tend associate with hallucinogenic drugs and/or delinquant behavior.


Now the reason why I gave this lenghy explanation is for my next point;

Dance/Techno/Rave - Generally listened by those in adolescent years - Majority of those who listen to this music, have appeared to be 'Slow idiotic and mostly incompetent. Constantly in a state of anger, always vandalize public property or physically injure others for no reason. Always abuse drugs and alcohol. Mainly the British, but allot of the world know these types of people as Chavs (see www.chavscum.co.uk[/URL])[/I] [/QUOTE]

I've noticed that the people you described tend to have a taste limited to house music.

However, your average trance fan is typically a progressive free thinker. (and this is the point where you'll start suspecting I'm biased :p )Most trance fans* I've known seemed to have slightly or moderately above IQs, were very relaxed and passive individuals, and also appreciated classical music.

As for psychadelic, most (if not all) of it's listeners were very passive, relaxed, liberal, open minded, and had IQs far above average. Now after reading this, go back and read the part I put in bold earlier. I felt it was nessessary to point out the falasy of this common stereotype. You can probably attribute that to society's typical fear of the new and unknown. But to get back to my point...

I've put an asterix in an earlier paragraph because of these observations:

-House is relatively simplistic and repetitive.
-Trance is very complex and somewhat abstract but appears to be repetitive on the surface.
-Psychadelic is extremely complex and very abstract but appears to be repetitive on the surface.

-There are people who only like house music.
-Most of the trance listeners also liked house music and classical music.
-Most of the psychadelic listeners also liked trance, house and classical.

What you can deduct from this (and previous posts in this thread) is that, the more complex and/or abstract a genre is, the fewer and more intelligent are the people who appreciate it.

From having worked with and dissected songs of nearly every genre in existence, I've grown very familiar with their compositions. Using this knowlege, this is how I would sort genres, from the least complex to the most complex.

Rap/hip hop > Rock/pop rock > sub-genres of rock (punk, metal, etc) > house > classical > jazz/blues > trance > goa & psychadelic

Now there's something very interresting about this. You might notice that this also lists genres in their approximate level of popularity.

My theory:

The least complex of genres appeal to a large range of listeners. Some intelligent, some not. Some open minded, some close minded. The more complex the music genres get, the least popular they become, and the higher the intelligence of their average listeners. This doesn't mean that a hip hop fan who hates classical music is dumb, but rather, it would mean that this person (who could in fact be extremely intelligent) is amongst a group of people with a far more diverse range of intellectual capacities.

[QUOTE=Paul Wilson]
Rap - Generally listened by those in adolescent years - The minority of those who listen to this music turn into standardised Eminem?s and use drugs. Not always idiotic, incompetent, but about 60% of those who only listen to rap are ill-mannered. [/QUOTE]

Now apply my theory to your description. This would currently be the most popular genre of music. The rate of delinquance, crime, and drug use among rap listeners is more or less proportional to society in general. As you move on to other, less popular genres, these people get slowly "filtered out".

As for your other descriptions:

[QUOTE=Paul Wilson]
Rock - Generally listened by those in adolescent years and the middle aged generation - The majority that listen to Rock music, are well mannered, polite, hard working people, and usually quite intelligent. [/QUOTE]

I disagree. I would classify rock listeners are very [i]average[/i]. Why? Because rock is extremely popular. You'll find all sorts of people who like it. Some of them are middle aged, are well mannered, hard working, intelligent, and polite. Some of them are young or old, ill mannered, and aren't very intelligent at all. Walk on the street, pick a random person, and chances are, that person likes some kind of rock music.

[QUOTE=Paul Wilson]
Classical - Not very widely listened to. Despised by the Rave culture, Rap culture, liked by the rock and metal culture. [/QUOTE]

As for this one, as I've already explained earlier, most people within what you call "rave culture" do in fact appreciate classical music.

As for rap, rock and metal culture, this is simply explained by the diversity of people who like these genres. Some of them will like classical, some of them won't.

[QUOTE=Paul Wilson]
When listening to music, your brain releases more testosterone or [I]Forgot the name of the female equivalent to testosterone[/I] (Let's call Testosterone etc 'X') which in turn, makes you more hyper. The faster the music beats or more "active" it is, the more X your brain releases, causing you to do things you wouldn't normally do unless perhaps under the influence of drugs or alcohol.[/QUOTE]

You assume that a high level of energy makes you lose control of your actions. To return to my earlier examples;

-House music is generally maintained at a speed of 125bpm to 135bpm.

-Trance music is generally maintained at a speed of 135bpm to 145bpm.

Trance music is named so because of it's relaxing properties. Ever notice how if you're walking on the street and you hear a loud beat coming from a nearby car, you instinctively adjust your walking speed to the beat? Maybe not. Some people do this, and others don't. The fast rhythm of dance affects people's minds and bodies in the same manner. Depending on your movement and state of mind, your heartbeat and blood pressure are adjusted accordingly. Through concentration and relaxation, some people are known to be able to control this (this is known as "blood meditation"). Trance music is a modern version of this. Some people (such as myself) can be very relaxed from listening to trance. Others (ravers, clubbers) are energized by it.

It's a common practice among DJs to manipulate this effect to create tension buildups and tension releases. At the end of the night, tracks with lower energy levels are played to relax the crowd.

 

[hitssquad]

Csikszentmihalyi and MacArthur

hitssquad -- Thank you, I stand corrected. I misread, in the Acknowledgments section of his book on Creativity, a citation of support from the Mac Arthur Foundation as one of a grant.

Actually, it says in that Acknowledgments section of his book on Creativity that Csikszentmihalyi did receive a MacArthur Foundation grant:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060928204/?tag=pfamazon01-20

--
Three chapters of the book were drafted while I was a guest of the Rockefeller Foundation in its Italian Center at Bellagio. The rest were written while I was a fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences in Palo Alto, with support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation grant #8900078, and the National Science Foundation grant #SBR-9022192.
--

 

[reilly]

Flexor-- As a jazz musician and music lover, I too am more than familiar with many forms of dance music, and, actually, have been so for more than 50 years. That being said, many experienced musicians feel that Bach, particularly in his Choral Fantasies, wrote the most complex music ever. Then there's Scriabin, Pierre Boulez, Bartok, Meissian(sp?), the Polish pointillists, Richard Strauss with Salome and Electra, John Cage, and on and on. Even if on the surface Mozart sounds not-so-complex, give another listen or two to the ensemble work in his operas. Dig into Wagner with his extraordinary orchestrations, and often shifting key centers, which, of course brings up Schoenberg, Berg, Webern, etc. etc. etc. Check scores of some these composers -- they will blow your mind.

Jazz -- first of all I'll say, from some experience, that the average pop music musician simply won't cut it playing jazz, jazz is very hard to play well. One of things that amazes me about a lot of pop music. is the bass lines hardly ever vary, and drum machines work often as well as live drummers. (There, are of course exceptions). Check out some free jazz -- Cecil Taylor, the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Coletrane's later work -- in fact any of Coltrane's work one he found his voice while working with Theloniu Monk, like his solo on Round Midnight with Miles Davis, his Giant Steps, with an extraordinary harmonic structure. Monk too, has written some very complex music, as has Charlie Mingus -- check out the Carnegie Hall concerts of both of these giants. And then there's every jazz musicians main man, Bird, Charlie Parker, with recordings of Koko (based on Ray Noble's Cherokee), Relaxin' at Camerillo -- so complicated, particulalry in its time structure, that highly experienced musicians, most of whom had worked with Bird, couldn't cut it without a lot of rehearsal -- and all it was was the blues. Like Louis Armstrong before him, Bird totally changed the landscape of jazz, and, in fact, if you know how to listen, you can hear his influences today in many forms of music.

Blues. True, blues tends not to be highly complex, in the blues world. But, listen hard to, say BB King, there's a lot going on, while not as complex as Bach's work for solo violin or cello, there is certainly more sophistication than is initially evident. Blues in the jazz world can get monumentally complex, particulalry harmonically.

True, complexity can be a subjective concept. But I challenge you to listen to any Bach Prelude and Fugue, then listen to any pop music you want. and say that Bach is not almost infinitely more complex -- even if you don't much care for Bach

Regards,
Reilly Atkinson

 

[Flexor]

And you'll notice that I put jazz and classical as some of the most complex. I've heard a lot of bach, and I agree it's relatively complex compared to most music. But I still think trance is generally more complicated than classical.

You also have to consider that I don't base this exclusively on melodic arrangements. This includes morphing, gating, slides, and a million effects that simply aren't possible with real instruments. I count all these elements as adding to the complexity of the music. Classical music has relatively little structure. You can work with any rhythm you choose. You simply layer notes upon notes and shape a musical piece. An orchestra of 50 people could consist of barely a douzen elements. Having four or five clarinets playing the partition of clarinet 1 counts as one element. The general lack of percussions also significantly reduces it's complexity. But still, it's far more complex than most rock, which consists of at most two or three guitars, a battery, a singer, and one or two other instruments. Even more simple is rap, which consits of a simplistic loop. I don't really consider rap as a conventional genre of music though. I prefer to think of it as mainly poetry with a rytmic touch.