Turning Off The Boob Tube

 I have mentioned before the deterioration in the arts that has accompanied the deterioration of the culture.  There has been no great poetry since the 1940s.  The early 20th century was a time of great novelists, but no more.  Movies remain relevant by remaking the old movies.  But the old ones were better because the new ones have inserted leftist messages and politically correct themes.  Music has not been left untouched either.  Pop music, for instance has become bland with very little real musicianship involved.  Indeed, where music is still real seems to be among  often obscure independent musicians playing local venues.

I have mentioned before that I play the organ (badly, I'll admit) and I am studying the guitar with a teacher who has trained in and performed in jazz and classical guitar.  I also played the trumpet until I had a stroke 20 years ago.  I have recently taken it up again, with hopes to improve to where I can play in church again.

Musicianship,  being a performance art, requires attention to detail, to certain practice regimes, to precision in hitting the notes at the right time.  An organ, or a guitar pretty much guarantees that if you strike the right key, or fret the right note, you will hit the note.  But you also have to hit that note at the right time, and with the right force.  Hitting the note in question at mezzo forte when it is supposed to be mezzo piano will make you stand out like a sore thumb.  Trumpet, and other brass instruments however, require a person to hit the correct note by changing the buzz of the lips.  It is possible to bend the notes higher or lower, such that one has to train not only the lip muscles, the breathing muscles, but the ear itself.

Someone who knows a thing or two about what is termed "classical" music, though music composed in the twentieth century can hardly be called "classical," has written a piece at the American Thinker entitled Music On Hold by Anthony J. DeBlasi.  DeBlasi uses the fermata to symbolize the pause in the progression of music that was taking place up until the mid twentieth century. The fermata is that little half circle with the dot in the center of it in the music. The notation indicates that the conductor can hold that note for as long as he wants. A fermata placed at the right spot adds tension and drama to a piece of music.

Of course, you should go read DeBlasi's article.  What I want to highlight is the relationship between a healthy culture and innovation in the arts.  For example, during the Elizabethan period in England, there was great innovation in both drama and poetry.  In other areas, the defeat of the Spanish Armada cleared the way for England to rule the seas.  The English people were full of confidence, and this showed in their drama and poetry.  Of course, music also flourished during this period. 

I liken the current state of the culture to a person who has a serious disease that causes the person to be depressed.  When a person is depressed, they haven't the energy to engage in strenuous activities such as musical innovation, writing great literature, or painting great works.  As I indicated above, great music requires an athleticism that can not be performed when one is depressed.

The cause of this depression is, of course, the constant drum beat from academics, the media, and politicians that Americans are bad people in every way.  We are racist, xenophobic, intolerant, and indeed every kind of bad there is.  Oh, and we are stinky Walmart shoppers who are deplorable.  Don't forget deplorable. At all levels they are trying to tear down our history, our Constitution, our laws, our religion, even our language.  Oh, and television content has devolved into really horrible "reality" shows and propaganda.  But it is what we tolerate.

If we want change in our culture, we need to shake off the malaise that has infected us.  We are a great people, and we should be doing great things, leading the world in every way.  We are not racist, or xenophobe, or indeed any other phobe.  The saying goes that politics follows culture, but culture itself reflects the confidence of the society.  We need to turn off the boob tube and start making music.  It is both uniquely human and fun..