I believe that following the technology avalanche of the past century it is incumbent upon us to taste some of the other flavors of the tuning rainbow, besides plain old twelve-tone equal-tempered vanilla. Intervals hold true meaning for us musicians. With Ives’s “ Universe Symphony” we have genuine polymicrotonality, which accounts for the possible inclusion of any, and every conceivable interval. But no, Im not trying to encourage out of tune piano music. And Berg wrote for it in the last act of Wozzeck. Why not a preference for pianos that have “drifted pitch” for a composer who cried “are my ears on wrong?” Modest Mussorgsky was a fan of the out of tune piano, according to Shostakovich in Testimony. Charles Ives best epitomizes the curious musician, intelligent to what nature has to offer in direct proportion with humans history. Musical intelligence takes the curious further than the modern piano.
Visiting music interstylistically, the foreign stuff, is still a rare pursuit, but I suspect it is gaining currency. Theoretical understanding, instrumental virtuosity, compositional distinctiveness these are the shop issues. How many out there have scared the wits out of a dear one as a result of innocently overhearing something, accused however unjustly of involuntary judging? We seem to know what’s what with an almost telepathic certainty, admonished by the many that can’t read our frequency. Even deception can be discovered in the music, possibly leading in unfortunate directions. Examination reveals whether the child has a sense of nuance, and to what degree. From the music alone, music intelligence can discern whether someone is a secure individual. Rather, more psychological concerns are identified and addressed.
It is not so much that a musician can tell when the rhythm is faulty, or the pitch is off. Those with musical intelligence use their talents to understand the world in a very special way.įor example, an astute camp music counselor can discern in the voice of a high school-age auditioner all sorts of things in only a few short moments. Perhaps evidencing non-musical roots, it seems to me that talents in music may be only the tip of the iceberg, if not actually confused with actual musical intelligence. It presently extends only to the “appreciation of musical patterns” like melodies and rhythms. Ever since Howard Gardner designated “musical intelligence” as the one of the legitimate human intelligences in his book Frames of Mind, I have been wrestling with its implications.Ī quick Internet search reveals a pioneering, though shortsighted meaning for musical intelligence. The answer appears to be the musical intelligence that they possess. Here in the new millennium composers look about and wonder what connects them together.