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The attention and concentration
that is required to listen carefully and understand sonic relationships
deeply is generally not encouraged in our education system or our
environments. The information processing nature of the brain dictates
that when too much information is presented to it in too disorganized
a fashion, there is a tendency to “skim” the content,
rather than analyze it carefully. More may be experienced, but less
is absorbed.
Music education primarily involves teaching performance skills and
the correct manner in which to play music that has been written
in the past, and not on performance as the outward manifestation
of musical thinking and as an important aspect of cognitive development.
In recent years, efforts have been made to introduce some degree
of creativity into music curricula, and at the theoretical level
to study the nature of musical cognitive development.
The perfect periodicity of musical pitch and the mysteries of harmonic
ratios suggested to early peoples a level of truth that transcended
worldly events and mirrored the structure of the universe. The ability
of music to affect human emotions in a powerful way suggested another
level of awesome power. Complexity in music as a system of communication
derives from its organization and not just from its sound material,
and therefore music in early times seemed to channel the complexity
of the natural acoustic world.
If we valued sound awareness education, I believe it would heighten
our;
-concern for the integrity of our sound environments
-understanding of the aspects of control in sound psychologically
(knowledge is power)
-understanding of each other, expressing ourselves, and our ability
to communicate effectively
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