Music Appreciation

Last week was the annual day in my daughter's dance school. Dance students, of various skill levels and of different ages, performed for over two hours. It was enthralling. I am sure many folks did not understand the nuances and intricacies of Bharatanatyam, but that did not stop them from enjoying the spectacle. There is something in dance and music that captivates people. Albus Dumbledore remarked "Ah, Music, a Magic Beyond All We Do Here!" Einstein had said that he often thinks in Music. Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister exclaimed about one of India's finest singers, M.S. Subbulakshmi - "Who am I, a mere Prime Minister before a Queen, a Queen of Music”. 

When I was young, music and dance were limited to film songs coming on Radio and the occasional TV. My parents would play Vividh Bharati's (A radio channel of All India Radio) நேயர் விருப்பம் (Listeners choice) every weekday from 8AM to 9AM, not necessarily for the songs, but more importantly for the time that they announce every 15 minutes or so. We would know that by the first announcement we should have taken our shower, the second one when we should have donned our school uniforms and so on. But what this also gave us was that it exposed us to the wonderful film music of Ilaiyaraja and MSV, beaming in the wonderful voices of SPB and S.Janaki. We did not understand the nuances of music, we did not have a formal music training, but that did not prevent us from enjoying the music. We had lesser exposure to dance, we did not fancy it much. Friday ஒலியும் ஒளியும் was our only source for film songs with video.

As I got older, I started to listen more Carnatic classical music. I did not appreciate beyond the well known songs, but I found that my friends, who were well versed in music, deriving immense pleasure from it. This intrigued me. Given that all of us are looking for ways to derive joy and happiness in our lives, here is something that is certainly giving so much joy to some folks and yet I am unable to derive any joy from this. I started wondering what it would take to get to a state where I can enjoy music beyond what I was already doing with film songs. While it is true that different people have different aptitudes, I believe music is a little more universal. All the quotes above are testimonial to this. And so, I set out to find out what it takes for someone to start appreciating something new, whether it is a new art or a new sport or even a new genre in books.

The first and foremost option is to actually try and learn that new skill. Learning to play hockey if you want to appreciate the nuances of that game, learn to sing or play an instrument if you want to learn music and so on. Personally I have found this to be the most effective way to appreciate a new area. When I started playing hockey and basketball, I really started to enjoy watching NBA matches and international hockey matches. However, this might not be possible all the time. There might also be a pretty huge price to pay, in terms of time, money and effort. At the end, we are trying to learn art appreciation only because we want it as a stress buster; the last thing we want is for this to add to the existing stress.

The second option is to listen to experts in the area who explain some of those nuances. Read blogs, listen to Youtube and so on. The problem with this is that, to even appreciate the nuance, you will need some minimum knowledge. Unfortunately, "Minimal knowledge" is not a line that you cross and claim to be on the other side; it is a spectrum. This is especially true with things like Carnatic music. It is an ocean of treasures. We do not even know if the stone we have picked up from the bed of the sea is a precious one or not. 

A more practical option is to just keep listening to music and develop the ear for it. In other words, Carnatic music appreciation (or any other skill) could just be an acquired taste. This could be time consuming and not often pleasurable at the beginning. But if one persists for a while, I believe this could be the best bang for the buck. One thing that would help here is to actually do some dedicated or active listening instead of passive listening. You cut off all other distractions and just sit down with the sole intention of listening to some songs. Just having the song playing in the background while doing dishes will not cut it. I believe if one continues this active listening, there will a tipping point sometime where we genuinely start understanding and appreciating music better.

Another option is to gamify the experience. Try to challenge oneself to identify the raagam of a random song. Try to do some pattern matching with known songs. Follow along with doing thaalam as the song plays. For those folks who like to challenge themselves, this could work better.

At this point, I have clearly not got to the state where I can confidently say that I appreciate Carnatic music as much as I would like to. But then, I am on this journey now and in no hurry to give this up. I am confident that if I keep trying, I will get better. The gains or improvements will be slow and steady, but there will one fine day I will start enjoying a lot more, without even my realising it. If and when I reach that stage, I will write an addendum to this blog. Till then, it is time to take one step at a time in this music appreciation journey.