Paul Nervy Notes
“Jokes, poems, stories, and a lot of philosophy, psychology, and sociology.”


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Arts, music, what.  ---  .This section is about what is music.  Topics include: ( ) Music as language.  ( ) Music as math.  ( ) Physics of music.  ( ) Physical effects of music on body.  ( ) Psychology of music.  ( ) Words and music.  ---  1/24/2006


Arts, music, what.  ---  (1) Music directly affects emotion.  (2) Music directly affects our physical body as sonic waves.  (3) Therefore, emotion is physical?  Music (and emotion) directly affects physical energy?  ---  6/15/1998


Arts, music, what.  ---  Aside from questions like "What is music?" and "Where did musical ability in humans evolve from?" are questions like "What did we hope to accomplish with music?" and "What did we actually accomplish with music?"  ---  3/4/2001


Arts, music, what.  ---  Getting into the groove, it carries you away.  Hypnotic affects of music (psychology).  ---  12/30/1992


Arts, music, what.  ---  Is music about math and logic?  Or is music about emotion and intuition?  Persuasive arguments can be made for both views.  Some people see the music of the classical era, for example Bach, as the height of reason in music.  Other people see the music of the romantic era, for example Beethoven, as the height of emotion in music.  Still others argue that music involves both reason and emotion.  ---  10/17/2005


Arts, music, what.  ---  Language and music.  We say the musician "has a story to tell" or "has something to say".  We say the musician is using a stylistic "vocabulary".  The musical phrase is like a language sentence.  These are all ways how music is similar to language.  ---  4/18/2001


Arts, music, what.  ---  Math and music.  Music is essentially a matter of mathematical ratios.  In terms of rhythm we speak of whole notes, half notes, quarter notes and sixteenth notes, etc.  In terms of melody we speak of octaves, fifths, fourths, thirds, etc.  These are all mathematical ratios.  ---  4/18/2001


Arts, music, what.  ---  Music is redeeming.  Music is idealistic.  I like music because I am an idealist.  Youths likes music because both youths and music are idealistic.  ---  5/15/1998


Arts, music, what.  ---  Music soothes the savage beast.  Music calms the stressed out.  Music helps those on the verge of a nervous breakdown stay sane.  Music therapy for neurotics.  It does this by focusing the mind on the music, and off all other worrisome stresses.  ---  9/23/1998


Arts, music, what.  ---  Music: any verbal sound a person says is music (like found art).  ---  12/30/1992


Arts, music, what.  ---  Physical and music.  Breathing (i.e., meditative breathing), chanting, dancing and music all use repetitive physical action to achieve a mental state that is not exactly self-hypnosis but is definitely trance-like.  An analogous phenomena is the "high" of long distance runners.  ---  8/31/2001


Arts, music, what.  ---  Physical and music.  Music sets up physical vibrations that are soothing and healthy like a whirlpool.  ---  02/28/1998


Arts, music, what.  ---  Physical and music.  Music, especially rhythm, is like a sonic vibra massage for the body, mind, and soul.  Dancing is further massage.  ---  12/30/1992


Arts, music, what.  ---  Physical and music.  Rhythm.  Musical rhythms are often at the same rate of speed as human rhythms such as heart rate, breathing rate, walking rate and lovemaking rate.  Music rhythms can have an effect of speeding up or slowing down heart rate and breathing rate.  ---  4/18/2001


Arts, music, what.  ---  Physical and music.  The link between music and dancing.  Music does things to your mind and your body.  Spell it out.  ---  12/27/1998


Arts, music, what.  ---  Physical effects of music.  (1) The effects of rhythm on the body are rather obvious.  (2) What are the effects of melody on the body?  ---  4/13/2001


Arts, music, what.  ---  Physical effects of music.  If you speed up a rhythm fast enough it becomes somewhat akin to a vibrating massage.  Rhythm is akin to a vibrating massage.  ---  4/13/2001


Arts, music, what.  ---  Physical.  Music affects the body.  But the brain/mind is an organ of the body.  So music can affect the brain in a purely physical way.  The so called psychological effects of music may simply be a result of the physical affects of music on the body.  ---  4/13/2001


Arts, music, what.  ---  Psychology and music.  Music as hypnotic trance.  Don't kid yourself, that is what music is.  ---  5/20/1998


Arts, music, what.  ---  Psychology and music.  Music can give hope.  Hope can give life.  Therefore, music can give life.  ---  8/15/1999


Arts, music, what.  ---  Psychology and music.  Music can rewire your brain.  ---  4/4/1999


Arts, music, what.  ---  Two main types of music: pleasure-music and pain-music.  ---  12/30/1992


Arts, music, what.  ---  What is music and what is not music?  Four views of music:  (1) Organized tone.  (2) Organized noise.  (3) Random tone.  (4) Random noise.  ---  09/01/1994


Arts, music, what.  ---  What is music?  What is the origin, purposes, and mechanism of music?  ---  12/30/1992


Arts, music, what.  ---  What.  Seven definitions of music: broad and narrow, short and long.  (1) The sound art.  (2) Stress reliever.  (3) Inspiration giver.  (4) Emotional outlet for catharsis.  (5) Emotional inlet.  (6) Communication: of information, art, and entertainment.  (7) Organized sound.  ---  12/30/1992


Arts, music, what.  ---  Words and music.  (1) How much can music alone say?  (2) What can music with lyrics say or convey that words alone cannot?  It may be that music can not convey more than words, but that it only does it faster (in three minutes) and more pleasantly.  ---  7/18/1998


Arts, music, what.  ---  Words and music.  A word is a symbol, but a tone is not a symbol.  A word is an idea, but a tone is not an idea.  Therefore, music is not symbolic and music is not an idea.  ---  8/26/2000


Arts, music, what.  ---  Words and music.  Comparing rock and classical is comparing apples and oranges.  Music with lyrics is different from music without lyrics.  Music without lyrics get its meaning purely from sound.  Music with lyrics gets at least half its meaning from the lyrics.  ---  01/01/1993


Arts, music, what.  ---  Words and music.  Music without lyrics is never "about" anything.  Music without lyrics does not refer to anything.  Literature and the visual arts, on the other hand, are about something.  They refer to something.  Except abstract expressionism in the visual arts.  And except the literary equivalent of abstract expressionism.  ---  6/21/2000


Arts, music, what.  ---  Words and music.  Music without words is about emotion.  Music with words is about attitude (thought and emotion).  Develop the best attitudes, and express them best.  ---  12/30/1992


Arts, music, what.  ---  Words and music.  Music without words vs. with words.  The difference between the two, and how important the difference is.  ---  12/30/1992


Arts, music, what.  ---  Words and music.  Words have meaning in and of themselves.  Tones only have "meaning" in relation to each other.  ---  8/26/2000




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Paul Nervy Notes. Copyright 1988-2007 by Paul Nervy.