One can't be a musician without learning to play a particular instrument, subjecting one's fingers to the discipline of frets or keys. The power of expression is founded upon a prior obedience; her musical agency is build up from an ongoing submission. To what? To her teacher, perhaps, but this is incidental rather than primary - there is such a thing as the self-taught musician. Her obedience rather is to the mechanical realities of her instrument, which in turn answer to the certain natural necessities of music that can be expressed mathematically. For example, halving the length of a string a given tension raises it's pitch by an octave. These facts do not arise from the human will, and there is no altering them. I believe the example of the musician sheds light on the basic character of human agency, namely, that it arises only within the concrete limits that are not of our making.
These limits need not be physical; the important thing is rather they are external to the self.[1]
Stay home and practice or just stay home. Musical genius is born from a fundamental familiarity with her instrument.
No comments:
Post a Comment