Tristan
Salutations to all my program classmates!
For the small few who are still somehow in the dark as to who I am, allow me to formally introduce myself; my name is Tristan. I am a mix of Argentine and English, born in Argentina and grew up a tad displaced around the world. For lack of interest in disclosing where specifically and for how long, those interested can ask me in person; I am more than happy to divulge that in person as it does become complicated. My journey finally landed me here, in French Canadian territory known as Québec, and I can say beyond any shadows of doubt that it was a wonderful move that I do not regret whatsoever. Although I may differ from others around me here (as I do have possibly too many areas of interest, intrigue or possibly too many hobbies) I can say that my adaptation to Canada and Quebec have been smooth enough. Furthermore, my studies here at Dawson have been nothing shy of unique and amazing, and I owe that to the wonderful students and teachers of this fabulous program. Having traveled quite a bit in my earlier youth, I have been fortunate to be able to witness, be a part of many cultures and been privy to many languages, which is why I initially gravitated toward this profile! But that is quite enough about me, and I digress to the matter at hand: this blog and the project associated to it.
I would stipulate that most to every country on Earth is heavily influenced in culture by music, and each likely finds that it is another form of language; a form of language that is separate from what is spoken but is accentuated by what is said within it. As such it is constantly working in conjunction with the words sung to further get the unified message out. But just how does interact with language? As well, how does they both constantly convey such effective yet personal meanings to those who hear them as they work together? These are just some of the potential views this blog and its entries will put into perspective.
This is a continuation on the aforementioned stipulation: music being a powerful influence that has affected many nations, civilizations and has been used in conjunction with language at every step of their unified journey. Since the "discovery of musical instruments from 35 000 years ago" (pp.14) has been confirmed in archaeological findings, the evidence of their existence also proves that music --as well as its vessels-- have been evolving with us for quite a long time. But although that is a wonderful discovery, one may begin to ask themselves: 'even if music and its instruments have evolved along with us, does that necessarily mean that they did so alongside music?' This, is the fundamental query that the following entries will analyse, on the premise of corroborating that these two aspects of human communication have indeed gone hand in hand.
First, I suppose we should focus a little on what music and language share, on a surface, and then subsurface level.
Starting off; music, much like language is a structured set of rules, moving parts, and building blocks, that all serve to later present a message.
In language, as we have all learnt, we have all of these things: from phonology to morphology; from syntax to semantics, as well as pragmatics, verbiage and verb tenses, that all encompass a much larger goal; communication. Whether that be an emotional sentiment that is fleeting or a recited story as old as time, the linguistic structures used will establish what the purpose, air and takeaway are in what one interlocutor has coded.
This structural system also applies to music: the vibration values that become notes, much like phonology, to the chords they become, as with morphology; from scales that are made from notes or chords in individually meaningful sequences, much like phrases. Then then use of those scales for scores, that must use the correct notes and chord progressions which follow a regulated sequence to sound correct as verb tenses would. All that sequencing then having a syntactic and semantic, as well as pragmatic meaning for the rest of the piece presented. All this serves to reach a similar goal as language: communicate. Be it the aforementioned fleeting emotional sentiments or a story as old as time, such as a fall becoming a rise, these parts all serve to aid the audience or listener to properly establish what the purpose, air and takeaway are in what the music has coded.
But, this is just the beginning!
Here is a deeper look into these aspects and how they intermingle
the case being presented here is that of musical and linguistic syntax.
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The phrase: "The girl who kissed the boy opened the door." along with the sequential hierarchy of its composition.
This simple phrase showcases some of the syntactic intricacies of language, in its production and its discerned meaning, regardless of structures within it.
[ MORE TO FOLLOW ]
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The song "Hush Little Baby" and our understanding of musical tone and sequence hierarchies.
This song, usually sung to children showcases exactly how sequence hierarchy and tonal hierarchy work to be able to discern pieces from one another as well as to evoke the correct emotion; achieving all of that whilst still sounding correct to the ears and by extension, the mind.
[ MORE TO FOLLOW ]
Duranti, Alessandro. A Companion to Linguistic Anthropology. Wiley-Blackwell, 2004. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=108704&site=eds-live&scope=site.
This is a book that establishes the link between language and music through many aspects: from metrics to meter and how each language and culture (musical culture in this case) requires a difference in language employment.