Discove the Importance of History of Music

I remember when I started to study the historycould locate. I even began to explore forms of
of music, I did not realize what I was getting into.music that had not interested me before in the
I had a notion that music history was like a trivialhopes of improving my musical knowledge further.
pursuit. Honestly, I only took my history ofAlthough I was in school studying toward a very
classical music class because I needed the credits.different subject - a degree in engineering - I had
I did not realize how fully interesting music historythought about giving it up and going back to get a
is. You see, in our culture a lot of us do not trulydegree in musicology. That is how much I am
study to comprehend music. For much of theenthralled by the issue. If you never took a
world, music is a language, but for us it iscourse in the history of music, you don't realize
something that we consumed passively. When Iwhat you are missing out on. The CDs will never
began to study about the history of Westernsound the same to you again. The whole thing will
music, though, it changed all that for me. I havesound a lot more rich, a lot more shinny, and
had some experience playing musical instruments,much more significant. A new song can reflect a
but I have never mastered one enough to reallynew way of being, and a new way of imagining
understand what music is all about. This classlife in the world. This is what learning about the
showed me.history of music would do to a lot of us.
When a lot of us think about the music history,If your occupation is musician, sooner or later you
we think of the history of rock music. Wewill have to work into something kind of
suppose that the history is plain because thehumiliating in order to pay the bills. A lot of
music is plain. Actually, neither is the case. Themusicians play for weddings, Bar Mitzvahs, or
history of music, whether you mean classicalgraduation and birthday parties. Others create
music, rock music, jazz music, or any other kind,songs for commercials and soundtracks. In my
is always complex. New chord structures are setcase, I am able to pay the bills working in a cover
up carrying with them new ways ofgroup.
comprehending humanity. New rhythmic patternsIt is tougher than you might imagine. You have to
are introduced, bringing with them new ways ofbe on top of the tastes of the bar crowd, and
understanding time. And music shows all of it.that can be painful. At first, I really ignore how to
Even when the class was finished, I would notstay up to date. I looked at the top 40 songs
stop learning about the history of music. It hadcharts, figuring that that would be the best
whetted my appetite, and I wanted more. Imethod to know what was in and what was not.
searched for all the music history volumes that I