Motion and Feeling Through Music Keil PDF

Motion and Feeling through Music
Author(s): Charles M. H. Keil

Source: The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Vol. 24, No. 3 (Spring, 1966), pp. 337-
349
Published by: Wiley on behalf of The American Society for Aesthetics
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CHARLES M. H. KEIL
Motion and Feeling through Music
IN HIS BOOK Emotion and Meaning in sical relationships set forth in the work of
Music Leonard Meyer' has managed to fill art and that meaning in music is primarily
a great deal of the gap in our knowledge intellectual, while the expressionist would
defined by the question, What is a musical argue that these same relationships are in
experience? In attempting a very short some sense capable of exciting feelings
sequel to his work my primary purpose is and emotions in the listener" (Meyer,
to discuss an aspect of music that I feel has 1956, p. 3). Emotion and Meaning in
been neglected in his studies. Music demonstrates quite effectively that
To do this effectively, I find it conven- formalist and expressionist points of view
ient to define my general position vis-a- tend to be complementary rather than con-
vis the positions delineated so clearly by flicting, "for the same musical processes
Meyer at the outset of his book and in his and similar psychological behaviour give
more recent articles, "Some Remarks on rise to both types of meaning." Meyer de-
Value and Greatness in Music" 2 and "Thevelops this thesis with materials from the
End of the Renaissance." 3 To begin with,
Western compositional tradition, using the
concept of syntax and certain corollary
I am primarily concerned, as is Meyer, with
teleological or goal-directed (ibid., concepts
pp. such as norm-deviation, tendency-
172-173) music, although I will tryinhibition,
to and the net effect is impres-
demonstrate that the goals to which music sive. The thesis established, he attempts,
with somewhat less success I think, to
may direct itself are not always as circum-
scribed as he would have us believe. Sec- transpose the theory into the musical sys-
ond, we share an emphasis (in this discus-tems of other cultures.
sion at least) on understanding music itself Meyer's relative failure to extend his
generalizations to styles outside the Wes-
irrespective of any referential or extramusi-
cal content it may possess. tern stream stems in part, at least, from
At this point, however, our positions thebe- fact that syntax and syntax alone pro-
gin to diverge. Among those who arevides in- the core of his theory; that is, he de-
terested in "The understanding of and velops
re- his thesis by first examining the
sponse to relationships inherent in form the of music, a succession of tones, and
musical progress" Meyer distinguishes thentwo relating this form via psychological
points of view: "the formalist would con- principles to meaning and expression.
tend that the meaning of music lies inThis the procedure assumes that for analytic
perception and understanding of the mu- purposes music can be fixed or frozen as
an object in a score or recording, and it
CHARLES M. H. KEIL is working in music and aes-
implies not only a one-to-one relationship
thetics in Africa, supported by the Foreign Area
between
Fellowship Program. His book The Urban Blues syntactic form and expression but
a weighting in favor of the former factor
is being published by the University of Chicago
Press.
to the detriment of the latter. This tight
338 CHARLES M. H. KEIL
equation of form and expression that for dition for understandin

Meyer equals "embodied meaning" yields not sufficient in itself.
excellent results when applied to the gen- In addition to embodied meanings we
erally through-composed and harmonically must talk about aspects of the on-going
oriented styles of our own Western tradi- musical progress that can be subsumed
tion, and in fact it is with only a few under the general heading of "engen-
reservations that we can extend the equa- dered feeling." For the sake of brevity and,
tion to the evaluation of this music, say- hopefully, greater clarity as well, these as-
ing, "Music must be evaluated syntacti- pects will be listed at the outset. In making
cally" (Meyer, 1959, p. 496). When, this list of polarities my primary reference
however, this equation and the correspond- points are Meyer's theory (as formulated
ing evaluative criteria are applied to non-for the Western compositional tradition)
Western styles or to certain Western com- and the musical idiom that I am best ac-
positions in performance, we often find quainted with, jazz. I hasten to add that
these contrasts are loose and fuzzy; they
that something is missing. It is that some-
thing, or at least an important part of it,are meant to be thought-provoking rather
that I will attempt to specify in some de-than precise, hence the logical intercon-
tail. nectedness of the notions in either column
All music has syntax or embodied mean-
is conjectural, to say the least.
ing and indeed perhaps the analyst's pri- There are a number of valid objections
mary obligation is to elucidate the syntaxto be met and ambiguities to be clarified
or grammatical rules of the musical system with respect to this preliminary and rudi-
or style with which he is dealing. Con- mentary chart of the musical experience
sider, however, the system or style in ac-and though I would much prefer to re-
tion, music as a creative act rather than as main suggestive rather than explicit, I will
an object, and remember that outside the try to delineate point by point what is
West musical traditions are almost exclu- meant by "engendered feeling."
sively performance traditions. In someIn mu-an effort to meet some objections
sic, and I am thinking specifically athead-on, pres- first let me repeat that every
ent of African and African-derived genres, piece of teleological music involves both
an illumination of syntactic relationships syntax and an elusive quality designated
or of form as such will not go veryhere far inas "process." For example, a good
accounting for expression. The one-to-one composer gives some spontaneity to his
relationship postulated by Meyer will form
not and, conversely, a good improvisor
hold; syntactic analysis is a necessary tries
con-to give some form to his spontaneity
TABLE 1
Table of Contrasts
Embodied Meaning Engendered Feeling
1. Mode of Construction composed improvised

2. Mode of Presentation repeated performance single performance
3. Mode of Understanding syntactic processual
4. Mode of Response mental motor
5. Guiding Principles architectonic (retentive) "vital drive" (cumulative)
6. Technical Emphases harmony/melody/embellish- pulse/meter/rhythm (horizon-
ment (vertical) tal)
7. Basic Unit "sound term" (phrase) gesture (phrasing)
8. Communication Analogues linguistic paralinguistic (kinesics, prox-
emics, etc.)
9. Gratifications deferred immediate
10. Relevant Criteria coherence spontaneity
Motion and Feeling through Music 339
(cf. ? 1 and ? 10). In any case, whether the to be flirting seriously with referentialism
notes are written or improvised, whenever in that a music-for-dancing or choreographic
music is performed the processual aspect reference is implied throughout. Far from
becomes important.4 Second, it may appear being a mere flirtation, there often seems
that the columns of concepts above simply to be an out-and-out romance going on be-
reassert the formalist-expressionist split so tween music of the "engendered feeling"
carefully patched up by Meyer. Again, let type and the dance. If this were a court of
me reiterate that my ultimate aim is to re- law, I would have to sustain this objection,
veal just that part of expression not in- I suppose, but there are three counter-state-
herent in form or syntax, hence the accent ments and a summation to be made. 1. In
on just those aspects of music that are in many cultures music and dance are so
tightly intertwined that a clean separation
one sense, yet to be specified, less syntactic.
Third, the metaphysical specter of of the two seems not only impossible but
mind-body dualism seems to emerge from fruitless if it were possible-like separating
these polarities, specifically at #4 on the myth from ritual, or mind from body, for
list. Although hardly a philosopher or that matter. 2. Styles of music "designed
physiological psychologist, I would agree for dancing" have a way of evolving into
with Meyer that the mind-body duality is music "for listeners only," e.g., modern
something of a false chicken-and-egg sort of jazz; although Thelonious Monk6 regularly
issue. Yet it would seem that the dualism leaps from the piano to choreograph a
dilemma was resolved a little prematurely chorus or two and other jazzmen have their
along Christian Science mind-over-matter characteristic stances and movements, the
lines. I would particularly take issue with jazz audience now remains immobile save
the following paragraph: for some head-bobbing, toe-tapping, and
finger-popping. Yet the music persists and
On the one hand, it seems clear that almost all
though its choreographic or motor element
motor behavior is basically a product of mental
is less visible perhaps, it is still essential
activity rather than a kind of direct response
made to the stimulus as such. For aside from the to an adequate analysis. 3. No less an
avowed
obvious fact that muscles cannot perceive, that formalist than Stravinsky states,
there seems to be no direct path from the re-
"The sight of the gestures and movements
ceptors to the voluntary muscle systems, motor
of the various parts of the body producing
responses are not as a rule, made to separate, dis-
crete sounds but to patterns and groupings ofthe music is fundamentally necessary if it
sounds. The more order and regularity the mindis to be grasped in all its fullness." 7 Can
is able to impose upon the stimuli presented to we then dismiss choreographic expression
it by the senses, the more likely it is that motoras extramusical?
behavior will arise. Such grouping and pattern-
ing of sounds is patently a result of mental ac- Toward the end of his book Meyer para-
tivity (Meyer, 1956, p. 81). doxically manages to make the point of
this sequel while missing the point alto-
Common-sense and day-to-day observa- gether:
tion of children learning by doing as much
as by thinking would seem to cast con- Unfortunately little of the extensive research
siderable doubt on some of the statements done in the field of primitive music is of value
above, but recent experiments have dem-for this study. First, because the primitives them-
selves do not make musical creation a self-con-
onstrated quite convincingly that our mus- scious endeavor, they have neither a theory of
cles are perceptive.5 Could it be that inmusic nor even a crude "aesthetic" which might
some cultures children learn to dance be-
serve to connect their musical practices to their
responses. It seems clear that on the most primi-
fore (or even while) they learn to listen?
tive level music is, on the one hand, so inti-
Watching an African father support his in-
mately connected with ritual and magic that its
fant while it pumps its legs up and downaesthetic content is severely restricted and, on
to the "high-life" coming over the radio,
the other hand, that it is so closely associated
one is tempted to think so. with bodily effort that its shape and organiza-
tion are to a considerable degree products of the
Which leads to another possible objec-
physical activities connected with ritual, labor
tion: the right hand column above seemsor expressive behavior (Meyer, 1956, p. 239).
Group improvisation is a
May I suggest, first of all, that it may be
lenge. Aside from the we
our notion of an aesthetic that is rather
crude and restricted, not necessarily problem
that of of collective coh
the primitives? Need an aesthetic therebe ex- is the very human, e
clusively verbal? Can we not infer a for sympathy from all memb
great deal from choreographic responses orthe common result. This most difficult
"symbolic action,"8 from the "conversa-problem, I think, is beautifully met and
tion" between dancers and musicians
solved on this recording.
As the
(the stimuli and responses go in two painter needs his framework of
direc-
tions, I suspect), not to mentionparchment,
the rela- the improvising musical group
needs itsIfframework in time (?5 and
tionship between man and instrument?
?6). Miles
music "is so closely associated with bodily Davis presents here frameworks
effort," why not build a bodily which are exquisite in their simplicity
aesthetic
and yet contain
adequate to the task? John Blacking9 in all that is necessary to
stimulate performance with a sure refer-
his brief discussion of Hornbostel's?1 "mo-
ence point to the primary conception."
tor theory" of African rhythm has asked
essentially the same questions and I The numbers inserted in this discourse
strongly second his motion that greater at- on jazz essentials refer to other points in
tention be paid to this problem. Table 1, and in fact, this brief text might
Having answered objections with queries,easily stand by itself as an expanded defi-
let me return now to some of the above men- nition of process (?3). Further definitions
tioned terminological ambiguities. of process can be culled from a recent in-
Contrasts i1l and #2 are well amplified terview with another outstanding jazz
by the exceptionally articulate (musically pianist, Paul Bley. Although talking about
music in general, many jazzmen would
and verbally) jazz pianist, Bill Evans, and
the liner notes he has written for a recent find his imagery particularly appropriate
Miles Davis album are worth citingto
atdescribe a successful piece of music in
length. their idiom,
There is a Japanese visual art in which Basically the body of music that exists is like a
the artist is forced to be spontaneous river meeting a dam-constantly accumulating.
(?10). He must paint on a thin parch- It'll find the weakest spot, and finally it will
break through and continue-but it will still
ment with a special brush and black water be a river. Or, further along in the discussion,
paint in such a way that an unnatural or You can approach a piece as an anti-piece for
interrupted stroke will destroy the line or example. But whatever you use, there has to be
break through the parchment. Erasures or a groove to get into. That's the hard part. Once
you're into it, you don't have to keep deciding
changes are impossible. These artists must whether or not the next phrase is going to be
practice a particular discipline, that of al- good or not. A soloist can usually tell by the
lowing the idea to express itself in com- first phrase whether it's going to be a good solo.
munication with their hands (?7 and When you get into something to start with, don't
?8) in such a direct way that deliberation worry about the rest of the set; it's going to be
beautiful. If anything, just hold back, because
cannot interfere (?4). it'll all come out eventually anyway. The im-
The resulting pictures lack the complex portant thing is getting on the right track-the
composition and textures of ordinary right pattern-in the right way and exerting the
painting (?5 and ?6), but it is said that control and practice necessary to get it.1
those who see well find something cap- The phrases I have emphasized in this
tured that escapes explanation (?9). statement, the extended river simile and
This conviction that direct deed is the Evans' analogy to Japanese art, do not add
most meaningful reflection (f4, ?7,upand
to a very concrete definition of process,
?9), I believe, has prompted the evolution
simply because, as used in this context, it
of the extremely severe and uniqueisdis-
an abstract concept covering an infinite
ciplines of the jazz or improvising musi-
number of "vital drive" principles, which
cian.
brings us to contrasts ?4, ?5, ?6, and #7
and the empirical problems about which clearly it is to the pulse that the rhythms
this theory revolves. in Van Praag's definition of swing are at-
What is this groove, track, pattern or tracted. It is a subjective pulse that Richard
something that Bley and other jazzmen feel Waterman is speaking of when he uses the
is so important to get into? What is this concept "metronome sense" as the order-
thing called swing, vital drive, or process? ing principle in the polymetered rhythms
Aside from a close examination of the mu- of West African ensembles.15 In jazz groups
sic itself we have only a brief chapter polymeter
from or even a sense of polymeter
a book by the French critic, Andr6 mayHo-or may not exist, but the subjective
deir,13 to help us. It is from Hodeir, pulse in
or "metronome sense" remains the
fact, that I have borrowed the term vital center from which all vital drives de-
drive. Although he designates the phe- rive.16
nomenon and stresses its importance, he Vital drive may be generated in a num-
goes no further. ber of different ways and a more detailed
look at the mechanics of this process as
There is another element in swing that resists
analysis and that I would hesitate to mention if exemplified in jazz may prove serviceable
my personal impressions had not been echoed by in explicating contrasts ?5, ?6, and ?7.
many jazz musicians. What is involved is a com- The best starting point is probably
bination of undefined forces that creates a kind
rhythm section attack:17 the interplay be-
of 'rhythmic fluidity' without which the music's
tween
swing is markedly attenuated (Hodier, p. 207).
bass and drums. By attack18 I
mean simply the type of contact the
All we have then from Hodeir is one player makes with his instrument in the
more ambiguous term to add toinitial
our production
bur- of a note. Every drum-
geoning catalogue. In all fairness,
mer he
has of-
what is known in the jazz argot as
fers a number of important insights into tap,19 that is, a manner of ap-
a distinctive
process that will be incorporatedplying
here be- stick to cymbal. The basic tap
fore admitting defeat at the strategic
may be mo-
notated approximately as in Exam-
ment. His general failure devolves
ple 1,from
or somewhat more accurately as in
a misordering of the elementsExample
in swing
2. But the fact is that taps can-
which in turn is related to his initial denial
not be notated.20 For syntactic purposes
of what I feel is a fundamentally soundwe
as-might write down a reasonable facsim-
sertion made by Joost Van Pragg as far ile of a tap with all its variations (and
back as 1936, "Swing is a psychic tensionthere are many) vis-a-vis the improvisations
that comes from the rhythm's being of at-a soloist, and note how the rhythmic
tracted by the metre." 14 The word structures of the two patterns comple-
psychic here might involve us in morement each other and interact, but we
mental-motor (?4) controversy, so for thewould only be talking about a small part
sake of non-argument may I offer organ-of what the drummer contributes to the
ismic as a temporary surrogate-a termmusic. For the primary goal of his charac-
sufficiently general but with strong motor
teristic and internally consistent tap is to
connotations. The focus of attention that
create as much vital drive as possible, to
this definition gives us is crucial; thebuild
ten- a groove or track for the soloist to
sion generated by a complex relationshipget into and this is done by pulling against
between meter and rhythm. But here the again
pulse.
a qualification must be made by defining
Although each drummer has his own
meter, at la Meyer, as "an awareness of the
way of doing this, for heuristic purposes we
regular recurrence of accented and may
unac-distinguish two common approaches
cented beats" thus leaving room for aorpri-
attacks-those who play "on top" of the
mary pulse, "an objective or subjective
pulse and those who "lay back" behind it.
[emphasis added] division of time into
The former school (e.g., Kenny Clark,
regularly recurring, equally accented Roy Haynes, Billy Higgins, Jimmy Cobb,
beats" (Meyer, 1956, pp. 102-103). Quite Frank Dunlop, Osie Johnson, as the desig-
Example 1
Example 2
I a -+ 3 M + 1 2 +t 3
nation on top implies,placing each beatthe

attacks on a different
cymbal part of
so close to the pulse the
as cymbal
to almostas the arm be moves
aheadback and
forth slightly.
of it or "above" it when dealing In the
withpattern
thosegiven in
notes in the tap that Example
fall 2, onthe 1,
lay-back
2, 3,drummer
andplaces
4 a
of a 4/4 measure. It slightly
is primarily
delayed accent onby the"play-
notes marked
ing" with the syncopated beat
plus, letting beats in
1 andbetween
3 "lay back" still
farther
the pulses (cf. examples behind that
above) the pulse,
"onso that
top" only
notes 2 and
drummers generate vital 4, the off-beats,
drive. Some seem drum- to coin-
cide with the
mers eschew the "middle" beat metronome.21
altogether In keeping
with the motion
on occasion, playing "straight described,
four" on thethe
"plus 1"
cymbal and elaborating
and "plus the pulse
3" parts with
of this tap are played
sporadic accents on the on one side of the
snare orcymbal
bassand the 2's and
drum.
In the hands of a master (e.g., Louis 4's on the other. Clearly "lay-back" drum-
Hayes, who uses rotary draw-away mo-mers take more drastic (or less subtle if
tions when applying this tap), this "straightyou prefer) liberties with the pulse than
four" technique may be dull as dishwatertheir "on-top" compatriots.
syntactically but electrifying as a part of This dichotomy by no means exhausts
process. Although it is difficult to gener- the typology of taps. For example, Connie
alize about the attacking motion, "on top" Kay employs what might be called a
drummers tend to keep the stick close to "flattened-out" tap in which the syncopa-
the cymbal, arm fairly stationary with thetion is almost but not quite eliminated;
stroke moving perpendicular to the cym- Frank Isola is perhaps the only other drum-
bal, such that each beat lands on the mer that uses anything like the same at-
tack. More recently some drummers, not-
cymbal in the vicinity of its predecessor.
Conversely, drummers of the "lay-back"
ably Sonny Murray who uses thick knitting
needles in place of sticks, have developed
school (e.g., Max Roach, Philly Joe Jones,
Art Blakey, Pete LaRoca, Elvin Jones)a tap that might be described as "reflex-
seem to attack horizontally, so to textural."
speak, Murray seems to let his hand re-
spond by itself to the music (provided by or chording instrument (piano, guitar,

pianist Cecil Taylor) and while it is some- etc.) found in most jazz groups and to the
times difficult to pick out any recognizable soloists. In general, chunky bassists and
rhythmic pattern in his playing, the re- on-top drummers combine effectively, on
sultant echo-effect is certainly tension-pro- the one hand, while stringy bassists and
ducing. lay-back drummers work well together, on
As far as bassists are concerned, a similar
the other. Although there are certainly
broad division can be made on the basis ofsome notable exceptions to this rule, the
attack or in this case pluck. This distinc-
groups of Thelonious Monk and Miles
tion is not formally recognized by jazzmen Davis, two outstanding leaders in con-
in their argot, but it exists nonetheless, temporary
I jazz, illustrate this contrast
think, and the opposition will be describedvery nicely. Monk consistently prefers
here as "stringy, light, sustained and bass-
chunky bassists and almost invariably they
like" versus "chunky, heavy, percussive and
are coupled with on-top drummers22 (Pet-
drum-like." The former school (e.g., Paul
tiford/Clark, Malik/Haynes, Ore/ Hig-
Chambers, Scott LaFaro, Ron Carter, Steve
gins, Warren/Dunlop, Sam Jones/Art
Swallow) plucks higher up on the strings,
Taylor), the exceptions being some ex-
away from the bridge, usually with the full
cellent earlier recordings in which lay-
side of the finger, and the tone "emerges."
back drummers Art Blakey and Shadow
The latter group (e.g., Wilbur Ware, Wilson are coupled with chunky bassists
Henry Grimes, Percy Heath, Milt Hinton, Percy Heath and Wilbur Ware respectively.
Ahmed Abdul Malik, Gene Ramey, Eddie Miles Davis' rhythm teams are organized
Jones) plucks lower down on the strings,on the complementary principle, that is,
nearer the bridge, usually with the tip of he invariably employs stringy bassists and
the finger, and the tone "bursts." shows a marked preference for lay-back
Classifications of this sort are rather drummers (for many years Paul Cham-
tenuous for no jazz bassist or drummer at-
bers/Philly Joe Jones23 and more recently
tacks "time" in quite the same way as Ron any Carter/Tony Williams), although
other. Nevertheless, I would like to take at one point Jimmy Cobb (predominantly
the discussion a few steps further by exam-an on-top drummer) and Chambers made
ining briefly the various bassist/drummer up the rhythm team and again Miles, too,
combinations (cf. Table 2), and by relat- has occasionally brought a group into the
ing these rhythm teams to the "comping" recording studio that had a "Monk type"
TABLE 2
A Set of Bassist/Drummer Combinations
Bassists
chunky stringy
Drummers
on-top.............. A. Malik/R. Haynes P. Chambers/K. Clark

P. Heath/K. Clark
M. Hinton/O. Johnson
J. Ore/F. Dunlap
lay-back ............ W. Ware/P-J. Jones P. Chambers/P-J. Jones

S. LaFaro/P. Motian
S. Swallow/P. LaRoca
R. Carter/T. Williams
("Four-fold table schemes" are very much in vogue with social scientists but this one is simply illus-
trative and not statistically significant.)
rhythm section (Heath/Clark, Pierre Mich- The foregoing example

elot/Clark). These rhythm section prefer- oversimplified for the be
ences are guided, I think, by the manner credibly adaptable whe
of phrasing used by the leader-soloists, in task of generating a vit
this example, Miles and Monk. Not only common pulse; for in th
is Monk's syncopation (phrases (7 in Ta- Ellington, "It don't me
ble 1) remarkably irregular ("predictably ain't got that swing." Cha
unpredictable" as one writer put it) even ist extraordinaire, and D
for a jazzman, but he places his notes drummer, have been known to create a
(phrasing, J7) against the pulse with number of different vital drives within a
vicious consistency, hence his preference for single piece;25 Mingus shifts his attack and
a firm, even heavy, rhythm team whose Richmond adjusts accordingly, or vice
pulse is relatively explicit and in the case versa. One thinks also of Roy Haynes, a
of the bassist, at least, sometimes openly thoroughly on-top drummer, replacing
objective. Miles Davis is primarily a mel- Elvin Jones (who likes to lay back his tap
odist and his lyrical phrasing is inconsistent as far as it will go) with the John Coltrane
in the sense that during a given phrase Quartet for a month or so; after a few
some notes may fall behind the pulse, nights' work his playing became practically
others ahead of it, still others directly on indistinguishable from that of his predeces-
it. He often tends to float around and
sor, at least as far as the overall "engen-
above the pulse rather than to attack it
dered feeling" of the group is concerned.
directly and thereby contribute The Coltrane group,26 by the way, fea-
cumula-
tively to the vital drive. In other words, he
tures a unique yet prototypical process that
needs a rhythm section that can swingdeserves
wella full monograph of analysis, if
on its own, with or without him. only we had an adequate theory and
method
I should point out here that in my opin-to meet the challenge. For when
ion a good string/lay-back team canwe gen-
add a third variable to the picture, a
erate considerably more vital drivepianist
by it-whose placement of chords has a
great deal to do with vital drive, and be-
self than the best chunky/on-top combina-
tion, although the latter teams are better
gin to talk about rhythm sections rather
thanwhen
in terms of consistency. For example, simple teams, processual permuta-
a jazz soloist wants to make a record in
tions become very complex indeed. Intro-
New York and has not been working duce regu-
more variables, that is, soloists whose
larly with any particular rhythm team,
placementhe of notes may be just as impor-
can be more confident of making a to
tant good
process as the contributions of any
showing by bringing together arhythmchunky section member, and one can begin
bassist, typically Milt Hinton ortoGeorge
see why jazz critics, with the note-
Duvivier, and an on-top drummer, usu-
worthy exception of Andre Hodeir, have
ally someone like Osie Johnson studiously
or Roy avoided the very essence of their
Haynes, even if the two men havesubject
playedmatter.27
Returning to the table of contrasts (?5
together infrequently prior to the record-
and ?6), the foregoing examples should
ing. The three other possible combinations
somewhat
(cf. Table 2), if made impromptu, are facilitate the clarification of
somewhat risky: a chunky/lay-back terms.
teamIn composed music the structure or
architecture
sometimes generates a rather sluggish vital is obviously of great impor-
drive (e.g., some Wilbur Ware/Phillytance;Joe
broadly speaking, melody rests upon
Jones recordings), a stringy/on-top harmony
team and embellishment upon melody
For rush
usually doesn't lack for drive but may example, to the extent that an art-
at fast tempos (Kenny Clark/Paul Cham-
fully embellished melody inhibits the ten-
bers),24 and when a stringy bassist dency toward an expected harmonic resolu-
and lay-
back drummer get together anything tion,can
we have embodied meaning. Further-
happen. more, retention is important, for to
understand properly a variation or devia- or lead the listener to expect a more or less prob-
tion one must remember the theme or ably consequent event are a musical gesture or
'sound term' within a particular style system.
norm; it pays to know the score. The actual physical stimulus which is the neces-
In improvised music, the fitting analogy sary but not sufficient condition for the sound
is not to a building but to a train term (or will
the be called the 'sound stimulus.' The
above mentioned river): "Swing is possible same sound stimulus may give rise to different
.. only when the beat, though it seems sound terms in different style systems or within
one and the same system (Meyer, 1956, pp. 45 ff.)
perfectly regular, gives the impression of
moving inexorably ahead (like a train Meyer thatgoes on to develop a language anal-
keeps moving at the same speedogy-the but is meanings a word may have in
still being drawn ahead by its locomo- different contexts, the meaningful rela
tive" (Hodeir, p. 198). To the extent that between sentences in a para-
tionships
the rhythms conflict with or "exhibit" graph, theand so on-but a stricter analogy
pulse without destroying it altogether, we
to linguistics can be made with equal or
have engendered feeling, and for a solo toprofit, for Meyer's "sound term"
greater
grow the feeling must accumulate. correspondsPursuing quite closely to the notion of
the contrast, it pays to keep careful track a morpheme,
of and a sound stimulus seem
the pulse. clearly to be on the phonemic level: notes
Finally, to comprehend syntax may be considered as phones, and so forth.
thoroughly it is necessary to focus on the analogy could be carried further, but
This
vertical dimension, to examine the constit- I think the suggestion, made often before
uent notes of each chord, to be able to that musicologists primarily concerned
distinguish the various architectonic levelswith syntax might add considerable rigor
at any point in the progress, to delimitand the new insights to their studies by col
range of melodic variations possible over laborating more closely with linguist
a given ground bass. Something approach- should be taken seriously. On the proces
ing complete comprehension of the sual pro- side, a kinesic analogy can readily b
cessual aspect will only be possible when made, and it is with the researchers ex-
we are able to determine accuratelyploring the this field that collaboration may be
placement of notes along the horizontal of inestimable value. Birdwhistle,29 Hall,30
dimension. Where is each musician plac- and others have demonstrated that a vast
ing his notes in terms of the subjective amount of communication is non-verbal,
pulse? This is a difficult question tobodily an- and largely unconscious. The prob-
swer, but some progress might be made lemsbythey deal with in segmenting a contin-
gathering together a group of competent uum of body movement into significant units
musicians and asking them to match their on the general linguistic model-kines, ki-
perceptions and intuitions with respect to
nemes, and gestures-are very much like
a given rhythm section stimulus. Al- those faced in a processual analysis of music.
though the thought is somehow distaste- When a man winks while gazing at a pretty
ful, it may be that instruments something
girl, is he attempting to cope with a piece of
like the melograph or the device used byin his eye or making a pass? The answer
dust
A. M. Jones28 can be used to measure ob-
depends upon what happens next. Similarly,
jectively the tensions between the attacks
when a jazz saxophonist comes up with a
of drummer A and bassist B. How far can triple forte screech, is he having reed trouble
the beat be laid back, or is this phenom-
or is it the climax of his solo? Only the ges-
enon some sort of illusion? Quite obviously
ture's place in the overall process can de-
our explorations of this processual nexus
termine the answer. This illustration is
have hardly begun. gross and subject to distortion but sug-
A section of Meyer's text provides a good
gestive, I think. The analogy between mu-
introduction to contrasts #7 and ?8. sic and both kinesics and linguistics may
be confusing at first, for while in face-to-
A sound or group of sounds (whether simul-
face interaction a wink is a wink and a
taneous, successive, or both) that indicate, imply,
word is a word, in music the same note cal Indian music, to use a difficult exam-
or set of notes may be both a "sound ple, syntactic criteria seem most applicable
to the initial phases of a raga's develop-
term" and a "sound gesture." I am insist-
ment, whereas the accelerating rhythmic
ing on this relatively abstract distinction,
interplay between sitar and tabla during
for in jazz, it seems to me, the net effect
the concluding portion calls for a proces-
of an entire piece may focus on one or two
sual evaluation.
significant gestures; indeed, a vital drive
may be seen as a device for holding our In order to specify more concretely the
attention and increasing our involvement relevant criteria for processual music a dis-
cussion of gratifications seems unavoid-
so that a single phrase that is "weighted
just right" will have maximum impact, able. In one sense, there are certain ob-
e.g., a good "break" in the earlier jazz
vious parallels to be drawn from Meyer's
discussion of value in music wherein he
styles, the few seconds of "squatting and
tooting" that inevitably climax one of bestows the label masterpiece upon those
works in which resistances, uncertainties,
John Coltrane's half-hour solos, the soloist
tensions, and the overcoming of obstacles
whose phrasing is consistently behind the
manifest themselves most markedly; in
pulse and then for one dramatic instant
good music, if I may paraphrase Meyer,
squarely on top of it. The "gesture" sud-
denly bursting forth from the midstresolutions
of must be anticipated and pa-
"process" may be something of an illusiontiently awaited, gratifications must be de-
ferred. His citation of Robert Penn War-
for in some instances, e.g., those in which
the jazzman is more of a stylist thanren'san definition of a good poem is apt: "A
innovator, it may be possible to show howpoem, to be good, must earn itself. It is
an apparent bolt from out of the blue hasa motion toward a point of rest, but if it is
actually been prepared for syntactically not
by a resisted motion, it is a motion of no
the improvisor. In general, however,consequence."
an 31 In syntactically organized
analyst who attempts to cope with the music the points of rest are largely har-
sound and fury of a contempory jazz solomonic and the resistances and uncertain-
ties are the product of melodic elabora-
(e.g., one by Cecil Taylor, John Coltrane,
Ornette Coleman) in purely syntactic
tions, usually reinforced with rhythmic
deviations, to be sure. On the processual
terms will be forced to quit in frustration;
there is little in the way of a consistent side, the pulse provides the resting points
terminology to be grasped and the usual and the rhythms (in the sense not only of
syncopations but of note placement), the
criteria of clarity, unity, order, are largely
irrelevant. Careful, even microscopic, ob- resistances. There are at least two levels
servation of the movements associated with of feeling to be distinguished, for to the
the music-making, particularly the extent mo- that vital drive is constant through-
tions of those entrusted with the creation out, as it usually is, the resting point is
reached only at the conclusion of the mu-
of vital drive, paying attention to the man-
sic, while the soloist "landing on" the pulse
ner of phrasing used by each participant,
at scattered intervals can release some ten-
noting the characteristic "sound gestures"
of the soloist, in short, employing sion the at points within the piece as well. In
improvised music uncertainty would
processual approach advocated here with
also seem to be more of a constant; you
as much precision as our elementary knowl-
never
edge allows, will lead eventually, I hope, to know from one performance to the
next what shape a solo will take or when
more intellectually and emotionally satisfy-
ing results. the significant gestures will emerge. Paral-
If the primitive theory that I haveleling
at- Meyer then, the greater the proces-
tempted to evolve here has any validity,sual
it tension and gestural uncertainty a
follows that we must be willing to employ
jazz piece has the higher its value.
two sets of criteria in evaluating music,In an important sense, however, mu-
depending upon whether the processual sic which has engendered feeling rather
than embodied meaning as its primary
or syntactic aspect is dominant. In classi-
goal also stresses immediate gratifications by primitive he means music that is dull
to the detriment of delayed or deferred syntactically, that is repetitive, cliche-rid-
satisfaction. Somewhat paradoxically, I den, of small tonal repertoire, etc.,33 and
must admit, the pulse-meter-rhythm ten- not necessarily the music produced by
sions of jazz are immensely gratifying, even non-literate peoples. Nevertheless, such
relaxing32 in themselves, in a way that ex- statements are first of all rather silly from
tended arpeggios in composed music are an anthropological perspective, for every
not. To the extent that you feel like tap- culture demands varying sorts of con-
ping your foot, snapping your fingers, or formity, toleration of uncertainties, and
dancing, gratification is also constant, and deferment of gratifications from its mem-
when a jazz fan does not feel like doing bers; these demands are no greater for
this, he begins to question the merits of participants in our civilization than those
the group that provides the stimulus. Sim- made upon Kalahari Bushmen, though
ilarly when a jazz buff wants to convince they may be somewhat different. Second,
you that a particular performer is great, why should we assume that immediate
he is likely to point to a single gesture or a gratifications are evil and brutish? Meyer
portion of the music in which the musi- insists that value correlates with the in-
cian is playing with the pulse in a particu- hibition of natural tendencies and the
larly perverse manner, asking simultane- overcoming of obstacles, and for syntactic
ously, "Isn't that bit a gas?" To exaggerate music in which intellectual control is at
slightly, a classics fan will wait respectfully a premium this may be so, but what of
until the piece is finished or, better still, put music where inhibition itself is the pri-
a score in your lap and ask "Do you see how mary obstacle? In our culture (and per-
beautifully it all fits together?" haps in others where hyperconformity
In music where good process and spon- must be fought), it may be that music
taneity are the avowed goals it seems whose goal is engendered feeling, spon-
unfair if not ludicrous to frame an evalua-
taneity, and the conquest of inhibition is
tion exclusively in terms of coherentof far greater value than music which
syn-
aims to reflect our civilization and the re-
tax and architectonic principles. Meyer's
remarks with respect to this problempression-sublimation-Protestant-ethic
are syn-
particularly pejorative and reveal a rather
drome upon which it is based simply be-
restricted view of Freud that, as Meyer
cause, like much great art, it offers an
himself admits, borders on the puritanical.
antidote, a strategy for dealing with our
For example, situation34 rather than reinforcement of
it. I suspect as do other critics that we ad-
The differentia between art music and primitive
music lies in speed of tendency gratification. mire many modern painters-Picasso,
The primitive seeks almost immediate gratifica- Klee, Kandinsky, Miro, Chagall, Pollack-
tion for his tendencies whether these be biological more for their sophisticated childishness
or musical.
than for their maturity. Many modern
Or,
jazzmen, notably Thelonious Monk,
Sonny Rollins, and Charles Mingus are
One aspect of maturity both of the individual equally serious about being infantile. At
and of the culture within which a style arises the very least, art of this sort deserves to
consists then in the willingness to forego im- be evaluated by canons other than those
mediate, and perhaps lesser gratification, for the
sake of future ultimate gratification. Understood, associated with a Meyerish concept of
generally, not with reference to any specific musi- maturity, i.e., unity, control, clarity, vari-
cal work, self-imposed tendency-inhibition and ety, although admittedly such general con-
the willingness to bear uncertainty are indica- cepts can be twisted to at least partially
tions of maturity. They are signs, that is, that
the animal is becoming a man. And this, I take
fit music of the processual sort. In a long,
it, is not without relevance to considerations of involved, and erudite sequel to Sigmund
value (Meyer, 1959, p. 494). Freud's Civilization and Its Discontents
(London, 1930), Norman O. Brown offers
In Meyer's defense it must be added that
some interesting notions that may be sug-
gestive in concluding this attempted se- vised), the more likely it is tha
ing" aspects will prevail.
quel to Meyer's work. Although any crys-
5 Richard Held and Sanford Fre
tallization of his thought into a few neat in Human Sensorimotor Control," Science, CXLII,
slogans does Brown a grave injustice, he No. 3591, 455ff.; Wilder Penfield and Lamar Rob-
argues generally for release from repres- erts, Speech and Brain Mechanisms (Princeton,
sion, resurrection of the body, and a re- N. J., 1959); D. O. Hebb, The Organization of Be-
havior (New York, 1959).
turn to the perverse, polymorphous play- "Barry Farrell, "The Loneliest Monk," Time
fulness (and immediate gratifications) of Magazine, February 28, 1964, pp. 84-88.
childhood. The latter qualities of child- 7Stravinsky, quoted in Meyer, 1956, p. 80.
hood alliterated so playfully by Brown 8 Kenneth Burke's works are well worth reading
(and Freud before him) strike me as a pe- for anyone interested in elaborating a theory of
music along the lines presented here. J. L. Moreno's
culiarly appropriate set of criteria for es- Psychodrama (New York, 1946) is also recommended
tablishing value, if not greatness, in jazz. in this connection, especially for its treatment of
Just how one goes about measuring per- spontaneity.
versity or playfulness I am not at all cer- John Blacking, "Some Notes on a Theory of
African Rhythm Advanced by Erich von Horn-
tain, but where process and spontaneity bostel," African Music, I, 2 (1955), 12-20.
are the ends in view I think we must make
1 Erich M. von Hornbostel, "African Negro
the effort to analyze and evaluate in Music,"
these Africa, I, 1 (1928). Reprint from Inter-
terms, for as Brown notes in speaking national
of Institute of African Languages and Cul-
art: "Its childishness is to the profes- tures, Memorandum IV, pp. 1-35.
11 Bill Evans, "Improvisation in Jazz," liner notes
sional critic a stumbling block, but to
to the
Miles Davis: Kind of Blue. Columbia Records
artist its glory." 35 LP-1355.
Finally, I must ask myself the same nasty
12 Paul Bley, "Paul Bley" interviewed by Don
Heckman,
question that I have directed to Meyer: Downbeat Magazine, March 12, 1965, pp.
16-17.
Will a theory based almost exclusively on
13Jazz: Its Evolution and Essence (New York,
one musical idiom, in this case jazz rather
1956), pp. 195-209.
than classical music, have any validity
4""Etude sur la musique de jazz," in Jazz Hot
when applied to the music of other(January,
cul- 1936), quoted in Hodeir, p. 196.
15 "African Influence on the Music of the Amer-
tures? I am convinced, of course, that ul-
icas," in Acculturation in the Americas, ed. Sol Tax
timately the answer will be an emphatic
(Chicago, 1952).
Yes. My conviction rests on two assump- 6 Marshall W. Stearns, The Story of Jazz (New
tions: first, that the vast majority of cul-
York, 1956), Mentor Paperback, pp. 11-14.
tures the world over have musical styles 17Although not concerned with vital drive or
that are performance-oriented, dance-de-swing per se, Hornbostel and Blacking justly place
strong emphasis on attack.
rived, and at least partially improvised; Hornbostel states: "African rhythm is ultimately
and second, that a processual methodology
founded on drumming. Drumming can be replaced
will be developed in the coming years so
by hand-clapping or by the xylophone; what really
that this rudimentary theory can be matters is the act of beating; and only from this
tested, elaborated, and refined accord- point can African rhythms be understood. Each
single beating movement is again twofold: the mus-
ingly.36 cles are strained and released, the hand is lifted and
dropped. Only the second phase is stressed acousti-
cally; but the first inaudible one has the motor ac-
cent, as it were, which consists in the straining of
(Chicago, 1956). the muscles. This implies an essential contrast be-
2JAAC, XVII, 4 (1959). tween our rhythmic conception and the Africans';
s Hudson Review, XVI, 2 (1963). we proceed from hearing, they from motion; we
4Performance and process are synonymous in the separate the two phases by a bar-line, and com-
sense that the "embodied meaning" column relates mence the metrical unity, the bar with the acousti-
to a Beethoven cello sonata while the "engendered cally stressed time-unit; to them, the beginning of
feeling" list refers to a Casals performance of that the movement, the arsis, is at the same time the
sonata. In this light the "presentation" contrast beginning of the rhythmical figure" (op. cit., p. 26).
(?2) may seem confusing, but I am arguing that in Elaborating upon this statement, Blacking feels
music composed for repetition, "engendered feeling" that "the contrast which Hornbostel suggests is
has less of a chance or, conversely, the more the therefore not so much one of procedure as of atti-
music is left in the hands of the performer (impro- tudes towards movements and the productions of
sounds." Blacking documents this2Mingusshift
Presentsin
Mingus, Candid LP, 8005.
emphasis
by comparing the technique of 26 Coltrane:
a Chopi The John Coltrane Quartet, Impulse
xylophone
player with that of a concertLP, Mono-A21.
pianist. "One has a
similar impression of downward 27Realizing, I suppose, that
'attacking' purely syntactic
move-
ments when one watches the performance
evaluations of
do not really do the a justice, this
music
virtuoso pianist.... Closer analysis of ishis
sort of criticism move-
also avoided and, excepting the
ments will usually reveal that there
sometimes is semi-sociological
insightful a constant work of Nat
lift, which makes the downward 'thrust' more of Hentoff, Martin Williams, and LeRoi Jones, jazz
a downward 'drop.' Some piano teachers insist that is largely in limbo.
criticism
all the muscular effort must be made when pre- 28 Studies in African Music, I (London, 1959), 13.
29 Ray L. Birdwhistle, Introduction to Kinesics
paring to play each tone, so that the note is actually
struck during a moment of muscular relaxation. (Louisville, Ky., 1952).
30 Edward T. Hall, The Silent Language (New
The fingers are allowed to fall on to the keys rather
than compelled to hit them: thus, contrary to York,
what1959); and "A System for the Notation of
may seem natural, the louder one plays the more Proxemic Behavior," in American Anthropologist,
relaxed one is" (op. cit., p. 15). The Adler system
LXV, 5 (1963), 1024-1026.
of drumming so popular with today's jazz percus- 31 Quoted in Meyer, 1959, p. 489.
sionists is derived from the same foundation of 32 Hodeir stresses quite correctly the fact that
note preparation. "Relaxation plays an essential role in the production
18 Characteristically, Hodeir relegates the of swing" as well, although his argument that a
crucial
notion of attack to a footnote, i.e., "the great rhythmic
many Negroes are naturally endowed with
phenomenon is not simply a question of time "complete neuro-muscular relaxation" while white
values;
the succession of attacks and intensities is also an
men invariably have to work very hard to attain it,
important part of it" (p. 196). leaves something to be desired (pp. 206-207).
19 I am speaking here of jazz since the introduc-
3 Even this qualified definition of primitive re-
tion of the "ride cymbal" during the 1930's. veals the analyst's syntactic blinders; in music con-
20 Of course, no rhythm can be notated cerned
accu- with process, constant repetition, the use
rately-there is always performance tradition which and exceedingly small tonal repertoires
of cliches,
gives "life" to the notes (cf. footnote 7)-but
canitsometimes
has be employed to create great tension
often been observed that the standard notation and vital drive.
34 Cf. footnote 10.
system is particularly ill-suited to the transcription
of jazz (or African) rhythms. 3Life Against Death (Middletown, Conn., 1959),
21 In actual practice beats 2 and 4 are p. 58.usually
reinforced by the "chap" of the sock-cymbal appara-
36 Finally, I should like to thank Leonard Meyer
tus manipulated by the left foot. (composer, critic, and teacher), Rozwell Rudd (jazz
22Monk's Dream: The Thelonius Monk Quartet, trombonist), Louis Feldhammer (a perceptive lay-
Columbia LP, CL1965. man), and Angeliki Keil (psychologist and wife) for
23'Round About Midnight: The Miles Davis the comments which have helped me revise this
Quintet, Columbia LP, 949. paper and which have also been instrumental in
24Bohemia After Dark, Savoy LP, MG12-17. generating an excessive number of footnotes!

Motion and Feeling Through Music Keil PDF

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Motion and Feeling through Music

Author(s): Charles M. H. Keil

Motion and Feeling through Music

equation of form and expression that for dition for understandin

Embodied Meaning Engendered Feeling

1. Mode of Construction composed improvised

nation on top implies,placing each beatthe

spond by itself to the music (provided by or chording instrument (piano, guitar,

A Set of Bassist/Drummer Combinations

on-top.............. A. Malik/R. Haynes P. Chambers/K. Clark

lay-back ............ W. Ware/P-J. Jones P. Chambers/P-J. Jones

rhythm section (Heath/Clark, Pierre Mich- The foregoing example

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