Monday, July 27, 2009

Even people who really like to eat don't eat their favorite food all day long. A well-balanced diet makes the good stuff taste even better.

Music is more than a little like food. We need a well-balanced diet: some songs, some dances, some abstract pieces like fugues or sonata-allegro movements. (In fact a Classical sonata is a well-balanced diet with a sampling of each of the above.)

Just as we learn to eat well we can learn to savor music of varying types, periods, styles. Why not use this as an approach to musical satisfaction? It beats learning every new piece as if climbing yet another Himalaya.