My cohorts and I have similar musical tastes and similar philosophies. We feel as if this musical genre gives people of our mindset a voice on a large scale. We are pretty antiestablishment and feel as if the government and society has too much of a say as what we should and should not do. This is why I feel as if I should have been born in the fifties or at least the sixties. We feel as if we don’t fit in the mold that has been constructed by society to be the “norm”. 

Below I have posted a song by one of my favorite groups, and a song that has significance to me. This song is about someone who overdoses from heroin and it has significance to me because it reminds me of one of my friends who passed away from such an overdose. His name was Chris, and he was one of my best friends in junior high and high school. He was a kind hearted soul, very polite, intelligent, and well spoken. He was a skeptic at heart, and was very antiestablishment. He was the kind of person that could talk for hours about conspiracy theories no matter how far fetched they were. He was naturally introverted but would go out of his comfort zone in order to make you feel welcome even if he was just getting to know you. It’s because of him that I got into Pink Floyd in the first place. After he passed, I listened to Pink Floyd on repeat and couldn’t help but cry. I still can’t listen to one his favorites “Hey You” without getting emotional. It got me through one of the toughest times of my life and for that I am eternally grateful. 

Personally, I don’t prefer classical music. I suppose I am not musically refined enough to appreciate it. Although I play guitar, drums, and piano, I simply don’t have an ear for Beethoven or any other classical musician. I find that participatory music to be much more experiential and satisfying than simply sitting back and listening to refined instrumentals. 

Author David Camlin, in Journal of Arts & Communities, contrasts participatory and presentational music. He says, “The complexity of identifying what constitutes quality in the field of Participatory Music is increased by contrasting it with its counterpart Presentational Music. Resorting to dichotomous positions – e.g. process vs product; access vs excellence; technical vs ethical – only helps to partially understand this complexity. In this article, I argue that applying a dialogic perspective of ‘creative tension’ to the continuums of practice between Presentational Music, Participatory Music and more socially or ethically engaged practices enables us to talk about issues of musical quality in participatory settings in a more meaningful and consistent way. This dialogic approach may also help to resolve similar dichotomies in broader Participatory Arts practice (Camlin, pp. 99).” 

Although they are both enjoyed life and are experiential in nature, Camlin describes them as access versus excellence. He describes presentational as technical and participatory as ethical. I see the difference as the more technical form as a more proper and high society form of musical entertainment. Throughout its history, a higher caliber of people has enjoyed this more dignified form of music. It has historically been patroned by people of high intelligence and high society. 

“The priority is on creating a comfortable performing context for people at all levels of expertise. Yet advanced players need space for continuous challenge so they may remain engaged and experience flow, which, as I have suggested here, is a major attraction to music making in the first place (Turino, pp. 115).” 

Below I have posted Mozart’s Requiem. It is a highly renowned work of art-music. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2U_RR7cXHQ) This is an example of how low of a skill level one can possess and still participate in karaoke. They are completely opposite ends of the musical spectrum. As one can see, it truly is a comfortable performing context for people of all levels of expertise.