A teacher once said to me that music is part of the 4 essentials and has been since the dawn of civilization - that every culture must have food, water, shelter, and music to survive as a people.
As a matter of fact, there is NO known culture all the way back to over a million years ago that does not also come with a record of music. Even before Homo Sapiens existed, back before Homo Neanderthalensis, into the time of Homo Erectus and Homo Antecessor there has always been music embedded in our lives.

What do you think? Can we get along without music? Is it possible to live without some form of art, or is it possible now that we can write down our histories instead of singing them? Is it purely entertainment, or is there something necessary in it?

Music is a part of everyday life, even if we want to ignore it. It's on telephone hold systems; it's in elevators; it's in the malls; it's in doctor's offices; even our cellphone rings are musical. To me, this illustrates that there's something genetic about music appreciation. That doesn't mean that everyone can sing well, or has rhythm, but I think everyone likes some form of music, even if it's only a bird's chirping. Music and the arts too often take a back seat to sports in school systems, but I'm a big proponent of the "Renaissance Man" school of learning: you should be schooled in all aspects of life -- science, math, languages, writing, reading, history, music, art. We have enough specialists that we can afford to have a few more generalists. If nothing else, music allows you to have fun and relax from a hard day of crunching numbers or doing brain surgery. Even if you don't want to study music theory, I think it's important that, from an early age, kids be exposed to all forms of music -- provided the lyrics aren't obscene. (After a certain age, they can choose their own definition of obscenity.)

And no, I don't think it's possible to live without art. Cavemen drew pictures, some form of singing goes back as far as recorded history, and I imagine that the first guy to pound on a hollow log got compaints from his neighors.

It always baffles me when I ask someone what kind of music they listen to and they answer "I don't really listen to music." I think to myself, "How can they not listen to music?" But I think I have figured out, as Lakelander said, that people don't realize that they do listen to music. It might sound very transcendental, but the sounds of birds, crickets, tires on a highway, the hum of the washer and drier, or the sound of my fingers typing on the keyboard, or any kind of sound can be music. I think it is very hard to get away from it. The people who say they don't really listen to music usually have some hobby, i.e. video games, watching movies. It all has some music. And I agree Lakelander, get them into music as soon as possible. Even if you don't teach them to play music, you can teach them to appreciate it. Music and laughter are the only two things that transcend all language barriers.

Very cool. Matt, I think what you're getting at is part of what draws me to more modern composers like Varese, Cage, Crumb and the experimentalists, simply because they work in all mediums, even silence, and alot of their compositions can tend to be misunderstood to a great degree. Unfortunate, but true.

Another thing that baffles me is the opposite end of the spectrum to what you're saying: the people who say that they listen to everything (often followed by qualifiers like "except country"). Every time I hear that, I feel like there's so much that that person has yet to hear, because (and I don't mean to be rude) it seems that usually anyone who says that they listen to everything often listens to little more than what's on the radio, along with some Indie bands.

On another note, the Indie scene has put out some pretty awesome artists lately. And in large numbers. Vampire Weekend and Belle and Sebastian remain two of my recent favorites.

For sure, chance music is a little out there for me but I cant deny that it is still music in some form. And you hit the nail on the head for people who say they listen to all music with a disclaimer like country or rap. This usually means they listen to a mix radio station that has some pop and little R&B. There parents listened to classic rock, their friend listens to a little Mo-town and that covers "all" music to them. But do they listen to Sca? Punk? Indi? Acoustic? Folk? Acid Rock? Soft Rock? Disco? The list goes on and on and these are just a few general categories. There some generes I don't like and I'm not afraid to say it but I am also open minded to new music that is coming out.

Exactly. I try to listen to anything at least twice.

Sometimes I like it the second time around.

Music is part of the soul. The very vibrations that a sound creates directly influences the bodies natural energy vibrations, swaying our moods and thoughts. Music is in everyday life from the pattern and timbre of our speech, the rhythm in the way we walk and even in the breaths we take. There is an undeniable rhythm to life and music is a universal language we can all understand.

I agree with you all...there would be no way to ignore your natural pull towards melodic structure. It's why somebody like Ben Stein is boring to listen to and Craig Ferguson captures your attention - inflection, dynamics, pitch change, ect. The only way music could not have been programmed as an essential into humans would be if there was no speech or vocal chords, no ears or eardrums, and no ability to feel vibrations.

Because the body is really just an enormous transducer, we are created to give and take sound, just as we are to eat, drink, and survive.

`

Well now, lately I've found a whole
new "why" for playing. Not so much
why *I* play as why the whole band
exists .... to keep Ernie alive.

Ernie is a quite healthy "retired"
professional musician, and I've now
joined Ernie's son's band. Ernie's
85 yrs old and his doctor says that
"Whatever you've been doing, it's
working for you, so keep it up."

Having such a purpose is way better
than griping about low pay, cramped
stages, etc etc !

My longstanding reason to play was
[still is] about keeping a shred of
sanity. [OK THAT sounds backwards
to some of you, I know, but it's a
loooonnnng story ... ]. Anywayz,
put the two reasons together and
it's magic.

`

Great posts guys! Thought I'd throw another one out there...

There was a cellist on PBS not long ago playing with the National Symphony Orchestra who had turned 90 and still held the co-principal seat in the section. He was a brilliant player, and when they interviewed him afterward (I believe it was his birthday on the night of that concert), he talked about how he was reworking the way he practiced entirely and trying to get his fingers around some new techniques on the cello.

The interviewer asked him why he was even bothering to do so, because, after all, hadn't he already played just about every piece he was going to play for the rest of his life? Wasn't he already a master musician (and in fact he was and still is an absolute master)?

He just laughed and said, "Well, sometimes, I think I still sense improvement."

Nice story Shackman. This topic reminded me of an article I read couple days ago written by Andy Doerschuk about what's the meaning for playing drums. He ends the article like this:

"Luckiest People On Earth. That’s right. I’m talking about us. Despite all the hard work, low pay, and sacrifice that our jobs demand, we in fact are the luckiest people on Earth. Just look around you, at all the people who have jobs they don’t care about. They go to their offices or factories and perform their duties in order to make enough money to do things that they actually do care about.

But every single time we climb behind our drum kit – whether its on stage, in the studio, or in the practice room – we know that we are about to have a peak life experience that feeds our souls and unleashes our creativity. Other people have to pay for a chance to have the kinds of experiences that we not only have every day but also get paid to do. We’re the luckiest people on Earth."

"...to have a peak life experience that feeds our souls and unleashes our creativity..." - I think that really is a good reason to play music.

And I'm going to quote that...wow.