Many have asked me to unpack the meaning of "music appreciation". When someone asks you, "Are you able to appreciate this piece/genre of music?", what exact does that mean?
Music appreciation has different levels:
First Level: I like that music / enjoy listening to it but I can't explain why.
Second Level: I like that music / enjoy listening to it but I can only explain why I like it in non-musical (layman's) terms.
Third Level: I like that music / enjoy... See More
Many have asked me to unpack the meaning of "music appreciation". When someone asks you, "Are you able to appreciate this piece/genre of music?", what exact does that mean?
Music appreciation has different levels:
First Level: I like that music / enjoy listening to it but I can't explain why.
Second Level: I like that music / enjoy listening to it but I can only explain why I like it in non-musical (layman's) terms.
Third Level: I like that music / enjoy listening to it and I can decipher/analyse why I like it by relating it using music concepts and terms.
Fourth Level: Not only am I of the above (3rd Level), I can also play it if a score is given.
Fifth Level: Not only am I of the above (4th Level), I can also play it by sight-reading and also by ear.
Sixth Level: Not only am I of the above (5th Level), I can also play it by improvising it so that it adopts the style of another genre.
(Source: My synthesis of Reimer's Aesthetics Philosophy, Elliot's Praxial Philosophy & Revised Bloom's Taxonomy)
Classically trained pianists who learn mainly by reading scores might challenge the order of level 4 and level 5, which of course is another highly debatable topic of its own. Any thoughts?
There are two parts to this. First, the defined Level 5 here is not just having the ability to play-by-ear. It refers to those who can sight-read PLUS possessing the play-by-ear ability (dual... See More
There are two parts to this. First, the defined Level 5 here is not just having the ability to play-by-ear. It refers to those who can sight-read PLUS possessing the play-by-ear ability (dual skills). In other words, they are progressive in nature. Incidentally, and statistically speaking, there are indeed more who are able to sight-read than those who are able to play-by-ear, thus portraying the right pyramid structure.
Second, according to the Revised Bloom's Taxonomy, playing-by-ear is a higher -order thinking skill-set because while a computer can play out a piece of music when a MIDI score is fed onto it, it lacks the ability to play-by-ear (relative pitch, not absolute pitch because the former requires musicality while the latter does not). It is akin to newsreaders who can read a passage extremely well (with good diction and intonation) but are unable to speak well in the impromptu/off-the-cuff sense (when relating an incident).
I agree with Yong Meng. For those who can play by ear, most of the time it's pretty effortless (it's an innate talent which can be cultivated further I believe ), whereas playing by score often... See More
I agree with Yong Meng. For those who can play by ear, most of the time it's pretty effortless (it's an innate talent which can be cultivated further I believe ), whereas playing by score often takes hard work and concentration (unless of course you can sight read effortlessly :)
There are those who can't read music notes but can play a piece by ear even better than one who can read the score !