Four words that are taboo for music students. Four words that are essential to scientists and other serious questioners of .... everything.
Musicians are trained to pretend that we get it, that being able to play the right notes on time is all there is to it. "Beg to report," as the Good Soldier Schweik would say, there's more to it than that. What for example?
Why is one sound so much more tolerable than the next?
Why does the sound I hear not correspond to the sound I expect to hear?
Why does this piece disobey all the rules I was taught about meter and phrasing?
What Might It Mean? An Uncommon Glossary of Musical Terms and Concepts for the Stuck, Bored, and Curious is a book I wrote (and self-published as it doesn't fit into any market categories...) is available at my website. It is uncommon in that, unlike many glossaries, its purpose is less to provide definitions than to encourage musical curiosity.
