Anson's Random Dumps #5

Music. What a miraculous language it is. I still remember in one of the Facebook Q&As I hosted, someone asked me my favorite language. It’s definitely not Chinese, or is it English or the “weeby” Japanese. It was music. And it still is.

People often say that English is an “international language”. And sure, it is probably the best language to use if you are to communicate with foreigners, as basically everyone knows, to some degree, English. But English still has to be learnt. Music? It is natural instinct. We know the language without even knowing that we know the language.

If a piece sounds “off”, it sounds “off”. Although this can be somewhat explained in music theory (which I am not going to; I’m no expert here), most people just feel that it’s off. And it often is. Music conveys to us. If I say All I Want For Christmas Is You is “Christmas-y” and happy, you’re most likely not going to deny it. And boom. A message is conveyed. Language. And you don’t even need to learn it!

I’ve recently got into learning composing music, and by extension, music theory. But sometimes, I must wonder, what makes music good?

There are certainly some rules that make music sound good. Perfect cadences conclude a piece, like a full stop; imperfect cadences add commas to it. Major chords sound like home. Minor chords don’t sound as good. You are to put tension inside the piece, and release it. Hence goes the saying, “tension and release”.

Sure. If you follow all these rules, your music won’t have any problems. It’d sound good. Great, even. But, it is truly good? Does it stand out of the crowd?

Are we to be like a lion, trapped in a cage called “music theory”? Must we conform to these music rules to make good music?

There is a person called Bill Wurtz. If you haven’t heard of him, I highly suggest checking him out. He’s the creator of The History of the World, I Guess, and also numerous pieces of music. Although his most-listened single, La de da de da de da de day oh, arguably sounds the most normal, I’d say his other pieces are also “bangers”. His lyrics have no meaning. His musical composition is, …unique.

But, it is still good. At least for me.

To make good work, we have to stand out. We are humans. We make creative work. We are not just a bunch of mindless robots performing repetitive tasks. What’s the fun when every piece of music sounds similar? We have to strive to be different, to invent.

As for how to make good music? I leave that to my teachers.

Anson