Response to Kyrstal

Krystal's question:"Do you think that our experiences from birth determine what music we find to be happy or sad?"


I do think that what our mothers introduced to us in the womb and outside at an early age, ' by as far as music, does influence how we perceive certain music. Of course every case is different. My particular example involves John Lennon. My mother sang his songs to me in the womb and when I first came out within the first hour, she was singing 'Jealous Guy' by John Lennon. When I listen to that song, especially that one, besides others, I can get happy by thinking of my mother and how she sacrificed her own happiness and well-being for mine and then I sometimes begin half way through the song to think about her car accident and current brain injury from the accident and how unfair it is after all she has done (always helped children, did community service, volunteered, raised me and my brother extremely well, etc.) and I can get sad.

My question is a little off topic from the above...

My Question: Sometimes, with cats (not excluding other animals), It seems like they watch the television from time to time, I have witnessed it. That argument, whether they actually are or not, aside, what do cats (or another animals of your choice) listen to music when it's playing in their immediate environment?

Emotions, Moods, and Awareness

In chapter 11, Davies mentions three puzzles, one of which dominates philosophical discussions over the past two decades. "Purely instrumental music is not the kind of thing that can express emotions."

I can only disagree with this. In a foot note Davies clarifies that music has a lack of expressive powers when words, narration, and drama are separated from the music.

These elements (words, narration) are convenient for many people to easily feel emotions from the music. For others, they feel more emotions from the purely instrumental music. I know I do. I connect more with purely instrumental music that I can hear a narration from, the story of the musical notes and how they relate, I don't need words to narrate the story, the music can do that by itself. But maybe not for most, and is this the problem? I think people are so connected with words, that there's no substitute, and when the words are not there, they are lost. I think that is a question of society and culture. Different cultures experience purely instrumental music differently, than a main pop stream music crowd that is lost with out words. And by no means, am I putting anybody down for how they experience music. Each person's experience is their own special event, not to be criticized. As far as drama, I think that purely instrumental music can produce drama-- look at symphonies, no words, all drama and emotion fluttering around the Hall.
I'm sure their is purely instrumental music that some people find no drama or narration in, but that does not imply that others won't.

My Question: Do you truely believe that music without words, without human voice, necessarily contains no drama or narration, and even so, do you truely believe purely instrumental music lacks expressiveness and therefore the audience feels no emotions from it?