A key component of the good life is good music. The desire for good music is built into the human soul, in that part of the human being that longs for transcendence and the divine. Good music satisfies a part of this desire, because good music shares and reflects some part of God’s good nature. Indeed, good music can even lead people to God Himself - some people, after having experienced the grandeur and majesty of one of Bach’s symphonies profess a newfound faith in God; music can point beyond itself, to a reality of goodness and beauty that is otherworldly. This is the proper purpose of all music. The difficult part comes in discerning which music is good and which music is bad.
This discernment is an important task. Both Classical and Christian thinkers have recognized that music exerts a powerful influence on the human soul. Indeed, Plato thought that music was the most persuasive of educators, fundamentally shaping one’s temperament and desires. Therefore it is important to give careful consideration to listening habits and to learn to distinguish good music from bad music.
There is a temptation, especially these days, to say that musical taste is totally subjective. This position would deny that there is any such thing as music that is good independent of the opinion of the person experiencing it. In this view, musical taste is something like taste in ice cream – varies from person to person depending on environment and perhaps genes. Also, from this point of view, arguing about the goodness or badness of music makes no sense. What’s good for you is good for you, and what’s good for me is good for me. I think it is tempting to think this, but it is ultimately wrong.
Some persons face the opposite temptation, the temptation to absolutize musical taste, and to insist that good music is good music and reasonable people cannot disagree. Thus, good music is not only objective, but our ability know good music is also objective. I think this is also flawed.
As Aristotle taught us, the truth often exists in the mean between two extremes. I think this is the case with music. There is both an objective and a subjective component to music. It is like ice cream, in that musical taste can differ, but it is like mathematics in that some music is objectively bad and some objectively good. I do think that it is often difficult to see the truth associated with music. That is, in knowing good and bad music, we do not achieve the same certainty as we do with mathematics. Music is neither totally subjective, nor totally objective. In this way, it is like a lot of other knowledge, like morality, politics, and art.
I think this establishes the appropriate backdrop to begin to suggest some music that I believe can be properly called good. The first artist I would like to suggest is the Chicago jazz vocalist-extraordinaire, Kurt Elling.
Elling is probably the most naturally talented vocalist I have ever heard. He has incredible range, pitch and tone. But you really have to hear him to understand what I’m talking about. I think his most accessible CD is his third outing as a professional, “This Time It’s Love”. Yeah, it’s a CD of love songs, but it really is something else. Elling is an artist that practices “vocalese,” or the art of singing instrumental jazz solos with uniquely composed lyrics. For example, “This Time It’s Love” includes a vocalese composition that was originally a Freddie Hubbard solo. As you can imagine, the Freddie Hubbard solo incorporates some difficult intervals and rhythmic turns
Other worthwhile highlights of Elling’s work include his music performed live at Chicago’s Green Mill night club. This album includes the noteworthy version of “My Foolish Heart”, where Elling incorporates a portion of St. John of The Cross’s poem from Dark Night of the Soul. Highly recommended. But the most surprising part is that Elling is just as capable live as he is in the studio. Because his pitch is so stable and his tone is mostly perfect, it's easy to think it must be doctored somehow in the production room. On this live CD, he proves that is not the case - it's all talent.
This discernment is an important task. Both Classical and Christian thinkers have recognized that music exerts a powerful influence on the human soul. Indeed, Plato thought that music was the most persuasive of educators, fundamentally shaping one’s temperament and desires. Therefore it is important to give careful consideration to listening habits and to learn to distinguish good music from bad music.
There is a temptation, especially these days, to say that musical taste is totally subjective. This position would deny that there is any such thing as music that is good independent of the opinion of the person experiencing it. In this view, musical taste is something like taste in ice cream – varies from person to person depending on environment and perhaps genes. Also, from this point of view, arguing about the goodness or badness of music makes no sense. What’s good for you is good for you, and what’s good for me is good for me. I think it is tempting to think this, but it is ultimately wrong.
Some persons face the opposite temptation, the temptation to absolutize musical taste, and to insist that good music is good music and reasonable people cannot disagree. Thus, good music is not only objective, but our ability know good music is also objective. I think this is also flawed.
As Aristotle taught us, the truth often exists in the mean between two extremes. I think this is the case with music. There is both an objective and a subjective component to music. It is like ice cream, in that musical taste can differ, but it is like mathematics in that some music is objectively bad and some objectively good. I do think that it is often difficult to see the truth associated with music. That is, in knowing good and bad music, we do not achieve the same certainty as we do with mathematics. Music is neither totally subjective, nor totally objective. In this way, it is like a lot of other knowledge, like morality, politics, and art.
I think this establishes the appropriate backdrop to begin to suggest some music that I believe can be properly called good. The first artist I would like to suggest is the Chicago jazz vocalist-extraordinaire, Kurt Elling.
Elling is probably the most naturally talented vocalist I have ever heard. He has incredible range, pitch and tone. But you really have to hear him to understand what I’m talking about. I think his most accessible CD is his third outing as a professional, “This Time It’s Love”. Yeah, it’s a CD of love songs, but it really is something else. Elling is an artist that practices “vocalese,” or the art of singing instrumental jazz solos with uniquely composed lyrics. For example, “This Time It’s Love” includes a vocalese composition that was originally a Freddie Hubbard solo. As you can imagine, the Freddie Hubbard solo incorporates some difficult intervals and rhythmic turns Other worthwhile highlights of Elling’s work include his music performed live at Chicago’s Green Mill night club. This album includes the noteworthy version of “My Foolish Heart”, where Elling incorporates a portion of St. John of The Cross’s poem from Dark Night of the Soul. Highly recommended. But the most surprising part is that Elling is just as capable live as he is in the studio. Because his pitch is so stable and his tone is mostly perfect, it's easy to think it must be doctored somehow in the production room. On this live CD, he proves that is not the case - it's all talent.
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