One of the huge points of the talk was that there was "better" and "worse" music, in other words, not all music is equal. The speaker, Mr. P (for the sake of anonymity, although, technically, he's an adult and a public figure, so I doubt he would mind) was comparing different Genres of music. Classical, Heavy Metal, Alternative, 50s, 70s, the whole nine yards (or is it ten? I always forget). There was an experiment to "rank" so to speak, which genres were better for your mental Health. It went "Mozart, 70s, 50s, 90s alternative, and then Heavy Metal. According to the study, your mental health was improved by listening to Mozart, and was actually harmed by listening to all the other types. Now my question is, can a Catholic who cares about his/her mental health listen to these types of music??? (note the three question marks)
This is what I would respond. Yes.
Ok, I'm done. Not.
I think that there is good music in almost every genre, and by good I mean Good, Beautiful and True (note, this is an important concept to me). In the above mentioned talk, the point was made that there are three parts to music, Melody, Harmony and Rhythm. Now, the Melody of a song/piece/tune affects the Mind, while the Harmony affects the Emotions, and the Rhythm affects the Body, all of which are integral parts of the human person. That is the amazing thing about music is that it affects the whole person so Profoundly. However, there must be all these three things present to have a truly complete piece/song/tune. It need not be complicated, but if it is, it needs to be ordered. No chaos allowed. The melody must not be monotonous, the harmony must not be horrendous, the Rhythm must not be redundant (notice that all those words appear alliterative, but aren't) As long as a song has an interesting melody (which includes things like "riffs") and a sensical harmony (which includes instrumentation and how the chords progress etc.) and a rhythm that does not over come the melody and the harmony, then I would say that the song is Good, Beautiful and True, and that a Catholic can listen to it without fear for his/her soul, and indeed should be open to it.
--Paul
3 comments:
What about lyrics? Which part(s) of the person do they affect and how do they make a difference in the Goodness, Truth and Beauty of a song?
I'm glad you brought it up, cause I was in a hurry when i wrote this post and so didn't have time to talk about lyrics. The main point is about the music itself. Now, a SONG can be ruined. even if it has beautiful music, it can have ugly lyrics, and believe me, there are some out there like this. Something to remember about lyrics, if they in any way deny the dignity of any person, or is disrespectful to God, or just basically crude, they're not to be listened to. There are songs that are "commentaries" and so engage your mind and emotions about certain problems in the world. These can be disturbing, but as long as they don't be crude about things, they aren't necessarily wrong to listen to. They can be if your mind is affected toward wrong thoughts or depression.
Lyrics affect both the Emotions and the Mind...I'm not sure about the Body. The best lyrics are those that engage both the emotions and make sense and you can wrap your mind around.
That was beautiful, Paul! Thank you! That was something I never stopped to consider but I realized how true it was right away.
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