Views on music

As guitarists, we spend a lot of time perfecting our music. But how do we see music exactly? What are your personal views on what it is we do?

Personally I don't believe in that everything is music stuff. If that were the case I could just bang some trashcans together and call it a day.
Myself, I see music (and all art) as an inteligent expresion of emotion, feeling, passion, self.
It doesn't always mean it is your own emotion, Sometimes it's the emotion of the composer, or when it's really good, of both the player and the composer.
Which is why I believe, the only way to be a truly good musician is if you are completely honest to yourself and able to be honest to others. Because only then can you make the music that is true to yourself.

Any other thoughts?

Yeah, I agree actually. Though I also know music is a means of entertainment. But when it comes to personally making music, I suppose it does entertain me, but it's not really in my mind at the time. I'm making it to portray my feelings and my imagination.

I love to tell a story with my music. I also love to lose myself in my music, and see what I'm telling without even realising. It's all great fun to me.

Music... as consept it means to me entertainment, pleasure and enjoyment. Purposes of listening varies and affect my choise of music. Driving, laying in bed, partying and so on.

Like all substances that can feel, hear or see can also affect me in various ways, depends on music or any other substance I see or feel. They can strenghtening me, calming me, giving me a good kicks and inspire me. Music, nature, people or even a sight of factory pipes can cause me emotional feelings that are so crushing or beautyfull that those feelings cant be told no otherway but by dancing.

Music is spiritual. It's one of very few things that surpasses everything else and goes straight to the heart.

Music is about emotion, spirit, everything. Music is the universal language.

Music for me is a purer form of expression. As a person, I'm not very articulate and can't express my complex thoughts properly in words. But, with music, my brain waves get translated perfectly to sound waves.
I have also noticed that music can also alter our emotions.Like when I'm listening to hard music, I tend to become more agressive. And with more mellow music, I tend to cool down(or more likely nod off :) ).

i often compare music to meditation.
music is when you pick up the guitar and become one, there is no guitar, there's no talking, no thinking and no nothing, you start playing and you don't even realise what's comming out of you. i used to turn on the micro and start recording while i play, for hours, and in the end lay down in bed and push play.. and i thought "wow.. i don't even remember playing this"

btw sorry about all the quoting ^^

its my life. its beautiful yet complex, hard yet easy, its what ive always been looking for.

I wonder if, at some point in the future, we'll find sentient life forms and discover that what we perceive as euphony is cacophony to them. That probably won't happen, but it's interesting to think about.

Pass me the dooby crunch.

music to me has to mean something. it has to disclose some new emotion or feeling to my ears. even the most complex composition can sound startlingly simple or visa versa...that to me is music.

Music today is more about the image than the music iteslf and the "music video" is proof of that. Mainstream artists produce only music that they know people will like and spend money on, no matter what it sounds like to them.

Music is the period at the end of my day. It's the Icing on the cake. It's theraputic. It's deffinetly an expression of myself. I've written over a hundred songs and never finished one of them. They are all a work in progress. I'm not in a band nor do I plan to be. I just write songs, record them and change them all the time. I used to be mad at myself because of this but it's just me. I'm forced to finish things at work and at home but I dont have to finish my songs so I don't. Maybe this doesnt make sense to some of you but it doesnt have to.

music, is art, if it isnt art then it is sound. as long as it has feeling that i can feel someway linked to me it is music. art is also what breeds feelings, most new. music is music depending on the culture you grew up in or in the one u are growing, and the music is part of that culture, and you too are part of it.
i persnally would like to be able to see music, whats behind it. being an artist is the closest u can be to a magician, i liike to say this to chicks.. lol but really i do believe so

There is an old topic about this but I believe music is THE

ULTIMATE FORM OF EXPRESSION OTHER THAN VIOLENCE

music is the study of time and sound

How very true!!Music has become so commercialized that music is no more made as an outlet to creativity, but rather to please the Big Studio Honchos. Music is made to conform to the popular and tried and tested "formulas".
And MTV is the biggest culprit of this. MTV features only mass friendly music albums and not really those that are path-breaking. MTV is killing music.

I don't buy that. Music has always followed the same path. Someone comes up with an innovative style. That style becomes popular. Everyone else tries to copy it. And you're left with a glut in the marketplace. Now, I haven't watched MTV in a while, but from what I understand there's no music on there anymore. It's just dating shows with over the hill artists.

Haha people will always say that the past held more great artists than the present for the simple fact, the past is a long time. There have always been sucky artists, but over the course of the years we have seen some great and those are the ones we remember.
Every now and then a great artist appears, not every year.

The music video, in my opinion, has been both a blessing and a curse. It combines (obviously) the auditory with the visual, which allows an artist to more clearly express themselves. Then of course, there's the whole "get the video on the MTV" thing," which might not be the root of all musical evil, but I don't think it helped.

I think this topic is more about what music means to us as musicians and not what we think of the music industry. I love Joe's point about the past though. I never thought of it that way. We seem to filter out all the ***ty music of the past and just remember the greats.

Personally, I'm very interested in the psychological aspect of music and, more broadly, sound. That is, why certain things sound good to us and why certain things sound bad. That interest is what led me to the earlier question about aliens :)

May I take pick at this for a moment? To sum it up, you state not everything is music, but if it's expression of emotion or self it is music.
Here's pots and pans being banged on, surely this is music?
http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&safe=off&client=safari&rls=en&q=the%20books%20music&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv#q=pots%20and%20pans%2C%20whos%20the%20man&hl=en&emb=0

Okay, let's take it back. The definition of Music is the organization of sounds by a human. (after all, those notes we play on "formal instruments" are merely sounds.)
Part of defining music requires us to break away from our emotions since we will always be bias is some way. This is not to say you must enjoy every piece of music, but must at least try to break down your own barriers. This is why music could be universal, but is withheld as it travels due to most's resistance to something "new."

When I was in a group, trying to decided on music to be added to the video, I asked what specifics do you not want the music to have? Their response made me realized I was being too precise. They told me "No rap or sceamo." When I asked if there were any specifics they didn't want, they just reiterated why no rap or sceamo, It's all about ****es and gangsters and screaming is ****... that's not music.

Let's just say they didn't like my suggestions, even though I was the only one who pointed out how the songs could be used for different types of cuts.

The concept here is just don't let your bias hold you back from discovering other music, even if you don't think it's music.

For me, music amazing, and usually mind blowing.

Firstly, what you linked leads to a horrible song of no merrit whatsoever, but I did see a link to some video of a guy banging pots and pans... which confuses me greatly as I don't see any point you are trying to make with it.
It was just a guy using random **** as drums.
Which is an inteligent form of expressing emotion and therefor falling under my description.

Don't blame me for sounding to soft but for me music is a form of expressing yourself and escaping from the world around you. It's a form of love, happiness, sadness and other emotions.

true dat bradah! now give me a hug! lol

HIPPIES! GET EM!

*Throws hackey-sack at Joe Dalton*

"Take that MAN!"

*Tries to run away but loses breath because of small lung capacity cause by smoking too much joints*

hahaha good times