Using Familiarity, or Getting Over a Need for Familiarity?
by matchequeda
Until this semester, I have never had to listen to music to which I couldn’t relate.
I have had a few different situations in which I “had” to listen to music. When preparing for performances for musicals and singing groups, I’ve had to listen to music to become familiar with pieces or memorize lyrics. But listening to the music wasn’t a big deal – it was pop music, or religious music or choral music I was pretty familiar with and enjoyed, or show tunes. The music was all very easy to relate to because it was in styles that I had known for my entire life. There weren’t many surprises.
In the first weeks of this course, I found myself looking for things I would find familiar in the music. I liked “Amarilli, Mia Bella” because it had a clear melody and reminded me of “Eli, Eli”, a song we sung at synagogue growing up (see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFcXeGtDg7w, a version by Israeli retro-pop icon Ofra Haza). In old religious music, I looked for Latin-sounding pieces that were like what I had sung in high school chorus. And when we got to Vivaldi, Haydn, Beethoven, Brahms, and the rest, I continued this strategy by looking for melodies I could anticipate or sing.
With atonal music, I have finally had to look at music from a different angle. Music can no longer be about what I like about it or recognize or find comfortable/familiar. There are no pneumonic devices or short cuts. Now, the music has to be about the music. But I’ve struggled tirelessly. What is this music about? It seems to me like it might be about some artists trying to be cutting edge or special. And it’s definitely not about casual enjoyment, because trying to find anything pleasant about this music is proven to be a lot of work for our brains (see: http://www.thelisteningblog.com/2010/03/an-overwhelming-feeling-of-confusion-the-brain-and-atonal-music/).
I think I’m getting somewhere. When I listen to Webern, I hear more structure than I did at first. But it still isn’t pleasant and I begin to wonder if the quote that we were shown in class about Beethoven’s 3rd symphony* was a legitimate concern, given that this music was an artistic force. It’s not a worthless exercise. It’s pushing me out of my comfort zone, testing my patience, and giving me a chance to try something educational that I certainly wouldn’t have sought on my own. But it’s been hard and truly unfamiliar. Sometimes my penchant for familiarity in music in a strength, but with this music it has seemed to hold me back – or at least prevented me from enjoying the music.
Here’s to open mindedness, and trying to move past it!
* – “Music could easily reach a state where everyone who has not been vouchsafed a thorough knowledge of the rules and difficulties of the art will derive absolutely no pleasure from it.”
The Thousand-Year Ears 
My sentiments exactly. I was ignorant before I began this course. When I heard pieces, like those of John Cage I would exclaim that they weren’t even music at all. I was wrong, there is more to music than just pleasing sound. It can be about making a statement, or pure experimentation.
I too found (and still find) it very difficult to understand and identify with atonal music. Most people (like my poor roommate) would probably agree with me. Being forced to listen to it has changed my opinion slightly on some of the pieces, but pierrot lunaire still haunts me in a way that is not pleasant in the slightest.
I’ve found myself in a similar position. Like you, I’m learning to appreciate the atonal music in the last century. I find that the more I listen to atonal music, the more I’m able to appreciate its nuances. It certainly requires more of its listeners than some of the previous types of music we’ve studied. That said, Schoenberg’s music still makes my skin crawl.
I agree with everyone completely when it comes to listening to atonal music. It is very hard at first. I can recall several times in class where Professor Dolan would start an atonal pieces and the resulting sounds would jolt me back into paying attention. I still do not see any point to atonal music but I have come to realize that music is more than just pleasing sounds to the ear.
I agree as well. I at first hated the atonal pieces as they were played. The class material has certainly helped me understand and appreciate the music. Understanding what the musician was trying to do allows you to further appreciate the piece, as opposed to just hearing it on your own. However, without the class, I would probably still be pretty closed minded on the topic of atonal music.
I too have enjoyed venturing into new musical horizons. I will say that the more standard sounding music still resonates more with me than the non traditional works of say Steve Reich. It has still been interesting to learn more about music history, techniques, and new technologies.
I definitely agree that as this course went on, it became harder to relate to the music. I noticed it while preparing for the listening quizzes. For the first two quizzes, many of the songs consisted of catchy rhythms I could easily identify. However, for the last listening quiz, the music was much more difficult and it changed rapidly throughout a piece. It became much more difficult to relate to and remember.
I feel that the fears of this quotation at the end of this post definitely happened with some genre’s of music. While anyone can enjoy any piece of music, it seems to be getting harder and harder for a regular person to listen to a piece of non-pop music nowadays and actually enjoy it.
I totally agree with you. I think there are certain pieces that, regardless of whether you like them or not, are easy to remember (the melody may be catchy, etc.)–like ‘It’s Gonna Rain’ by Steve Reich. However, there are others that are, at least for me, hard to recognize or identify. Nevertheless, I also appreciate that I have started to listen to all kinds of music in this course.
Before I took this class, I only listened to some of the very famous piano pieces and pop music. Over the course of this semester, I found myself enjoying most of the pieces in different eras. Even though the atonal music was hard to comprehend at first, I still attempted to understand its characteristics and the ideas behind them. So, I definitely agree with this “getting out of your familiarity” action – you don’t know how much you’re gonna like it until you get away from your “comfort zone”.
It’s interesting to see how you analyze your own listening process as it relates to music. It seems as though you view after through a more technical lens as opposed to an emotional lens, thinking more about things like structure and form versus how the piece of music makes you feel.
I definitely agree with the comments you made about familiarity and pushing yourself to be able to relate to the music that we’ve been discussing. I find that it’s easier to relate if there is at least something in the piece of music that you can relate to– if something reminds you of a particular moment in your life, a particular emotion you’ve felt, a scene from a movie– it helps to latch onto this to help you achieve some sort of link tot he piece of music. I really do think this class will help us all open our minds to some new forms of music (the Theremin still blows my mind) though, which is awesome!
Your comment about the author’s shift in music analysis is interesting to me. I agree with the majority of the comments above- I enjoy atonal music so much more than I used to now that I have more of the technical background to understand it. I think we’re all analyzing pieces from a more technical lens vs a purely emotional lens. While I’m happy I have a greater appreciation of music I normally wouldn’t relate to because I have more technical skills of analysis, I can’t help but say that I prefer listening to music through more of an emotional lens. I really feel that is the essence/purpose of music. At least, that’s what I love it for.
Out of the songs we’ve listened to in class, I’ve found myself drawn more towards songs that are familiar as well. Many of the concertos and symphonies were either songs I had played in wind ensemble in high school, or were very similar to the songs I did play. It’s hard to overcome the different, unfamiliar, and most of the times dissonant sounds but it has become easier as this class has progressed.
Great post, and great discussion. I would definitely agree that the atonal and modern music can be difficult to listen to. I understand that it is often just experiments with sound, but at the same time, I wonder what is the point of making “music” that makes people cringe and want to shut it off? I know it’s art, and some art is uncomfortable – often with the goal of making an audience consider some unsavory aspect of society. However, I don’t see what this music is doing. It doesn’t really force me to consider anything, it just seems like pointless noise. I’ve come to appreciate a lot of different music through this class, but this is one thing I feel like I haven’t learned to appreciate.
I also still find it difficult to listen to the atonal music we have been studying. Every time i play one of these tracks, the atonal music makes me feel uncomfortable– I feel like the music is missing something and it is just plain unsettling. Even though the music makes me feel this way, I think it is interesting that music can have almost a physical effect on listeners.
As an update, I felt that this final listening quiz was really a mastery experience. I felt confident and ready in a way I didn’t expect. So, even if I’m not “feeling the music,” I’m definitely hearing it at this point!
Although we may be learning to open up our minds (and ears, of course) to new types of atonal music, I still must admit that I cannot possibly listen to 20 minutes of “It’s Gonna Rain”. It just isn’t gonna happen. But matchequeda, I really like your point about how we have really learned to master our listening skills if not actually enjoy the music.
Reading this post was very enlightening. I agree with most of your statements with respect to the difficulty of appreciating atonal music. I am very accustomed to listening to melodic pieces so it was a big surprise when I realized that I had to take in Stravinsky and Webern. Even though I understand their significance in pushing the boundaries of music to the modern age and beyond, I don’t think I will ever listen to them for pure enjoyment. I think I will continue to stick with more melodic tunes.
Music that sounds unfamiliar is just hard to listen to, to put it bluntly. I have to keep reminding myself that there is some order or sense to the song, although it’s hidden or not obvious on listening. Testing our ears is a good exercise though, so I felt as though I had grown from listening to this music, trying to keep an open mind as you said.
The thing about this unfamiliar music that does interest me, though, is the new variety of sounds that can be produced in unconventional composing or instrumentation. I definitely feel musically broader as a result of listening to music by composers like Webern, and I definitely think there’s more that can be done in those directions by composers of those genres than we were able to glimpse in our short class time.
I agree that many times, I only heard dissonant sound first but later finds out that there are much more tones and harmony (kind of) found in music, even in modern music
I think throughout the semester I have learned to appreciate this atonal and modern music we have listened to recently. I think learning about the lives of the composers and the history of how music has evolved has really helped me to appreciate this music.
I agree it’s had to listen to music that is unfamiliar. In this class when I heard music that was unfamiliar to me, usually, I would listen to it over and over again to try to understand it. Half the time this helped and the other times it failed.