Music as Communication

Seeing as semester 2 has just begun, I thought it may be insightful to discuss some of my third year modules and explain what they’re all about for those of you that are interested. One of my module options is entitled ‘Music as Communication’ and I’m intrigued to see how this one goes as I am struggling to find the explicit connection between the two thus far.

The sessions are three hours long (an absolute killer for your concentration) and are styled like workshops – so rather than staring at a projector screen for hours on end you partake in relevant discussions and so forth, which is a plus. One of the downsides to this method of lecturing is not knowing when to take notes (as most of the session was verbalised). This played with my attention span i’ll admit and I often found my thoughts drifting off in the wrong direction.

We began by discussing genres of music that were adored and despised – this prompted various heckles from the class which was entertaining for a while. The topic of the difference between ‘classical’ and ‘popular’ genres provided the next part of the workshop and we were able to see how different musical genres can actually relate to one another, creating groups of similarities.

The interesting thing about music is that it is very subjective. The beauty of sound, varies depending on who is listening to it and this essentially effects our definitions of what music is, helping to explain why we may find some music to be enchanting and other types to be appalling.

Thus far, the workshop has been hard to suss out due to the fact that it was simply introductory. Next week we are experiencing musical therapy with screaming which is definitely something new to me! So watch this space.