In case you don't know me well, I thoroughly love music. Specifically, popular music of the past 50 or so years is my forte. I think I have perfect pitch (almost) but my main point is my ability to remember songs that I like well. If I enjoy a song, I might hear it only twice before having it memorized. First of all, how do I know that I actually "know" the song? My memories of pitch, tempo, and some more abstract sections (ie, guitar solos) may be imperfect, but I remember the exact structure of the tune. Is memory an adequate way of knowing for this?
Secondly, I find that if I hear a song that's halfway decent more than once a day, I suddenly like it, or at least memorize it. For example, I bought a song yesterday that I had heard on Rock Band that I liked, and I have listened to it three times today alone. Each time I listen I like it more. That was more of a comment.
Finally, if I remember melodies so well, why do I need my MP3 player in the first place? My memory serves as a solid way of knowing, doesn't it? Why do I need to reuse perception? My answer to this is: pleasure. For some reason, actually hearing the song outside of my head is more pleasurable than just remembering it. Does this occur to you? Thoughts.
Unrelated comment, but I love hearing Spanish. I find myself think Spanish all the time, but it's so much more satisfying to hear other people speak it and respond as compared to thinking it. I can't really comment about music because I don't have the same love for it but still a similar concept.
ReplyDeleteI think that radio stations have figured this out and exploit it. They know that we learn to love songs after hearing them on repeat. Then, we buy them (as you did).
You should talk with Sam Christenson about perfect pitch...
Cody! I finally found your blog! You must have posted your address late because you haven't been on my "blog feed", but I'm so pleased I found it tonight. Your posts are very interesting.
ReplyDeleteI love music, but I don't have an MP3 player. I haven't since middle school, and I've hardly ever missed having one. I find more pleasure in remembering songs in my head, I guess, but I do see the disadvantages of this. What we "remember" of a song is often just the melodic line, or guitar solo, or whatever your brain picks out. Even if you can remember different parts that play at once, can you really "hear" them all at once in your head? You can't sing or hum more than one voice... is it possible to truely "remember" polyphonies and play them back in your head to their full extent? This could be an advantage of physically hearing a song without a doubt!