Re: On the Grammar of Music and rules

[Peter Marvit <marvit@xxxxxxx>]

[[ I am neither Steve nor Ed. ]]

Martin Braun wrote:
> Fine. Then you will surely agree that there is so much variation in the
> chordal treatment within the work of each composer that they were obviously
> not following any grammar.

In keeping with what I read as the original comparison of music and
language, let me rewrite Martin's statement slightly:

        Fine. Then you will surely agree that there is so much variation
        across languages and speakers in the grammatic and lexicographical
        treatment within the work of each person that they were obviously
        not following any grammar.

It strikes me that there may be rather "deep" structures in music
(cf. Chomsky) overlaid and confounded by a plethora of "surface"
conventions structures (cf. many on this list, Narmour, Lehrdall &
Jackendoff, and countless others), further confounded by aesthetic and
cultural considerations by those who conciously try to push the envelope
of musical expression. The interesting experiment by Todd (?) on the
"categorical perception" of rhythms is a nice case in point, that certain
expressions in music have a category-like quality but are not as strict as
with certain phonemes.

Is not much of the current argument akin to the late-night musings of
"What is art"?

        -Peter "grammatically challenged" Marvit


:                 Peter Marvit, PhD     <marvit@neu.edu>                    :
: Northeastern University, Dept. of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology :
:               133 Forsyth Building, Boston, MA 02115-5000                 :
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