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kleinbl00  ·  1294 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Music Theory and White Supremacy

Okay, hold up.

Spanish hasn't changed in 300 years. This is why Spanish and Portuguese are mutually intelligible but different languages. It's also why kids learn Castilian Spanish rather than Mexican Spanish or Cuban Spanish. Fundamentally? It's easier to teach. Which is why people do it. Racist? Maybe? But look:

This dude can't seem to talk without a fuckin' piano behind him. Which is a bitch and a half to tune. So we all got locked into A440 because that there pianoforte was gonna be the center of whatever the fuck was going on because once it was in tune? It was in tune. And everything around it? Was gonna be in the same goddamn tune forever and ever amen. Why does music theory stop at fuckin' 18th century Europe? Because that's when we locked the fucker down.

My neighbor? Programmed for Quincy Jones. Professor in music theory at Cal Arts. Here's the book he uses. And the thing is? It's full of a gajillion different music theories that nobody has an anchor into. Wanna hear what that music theory actually sounds like? Guess what. Your class is now hearing Gamelan for the first fuckin' time in their lives.

I say this as someone who has seen Ravi Shankar twice, Anoushka Shankar three times and has actually tuned his midi keyboards to alternate tunings often enough to remember how to do it: If you want someone to learn? you're going to play this Anoushka shankar

Instead of this Anoushka Shankar

Because it's 4/4 time, A440, and you don't have to sit there for three minutes while the musicians learn the key, tempo and time signature from each other.

I own this. I play it multiple times a year, sometimes front to back. Trust me: nobody wants to listen to it. I'm wierd, and I know it, and the fact of the matter is, if you're trying to explain music theory you'd best start with music people know than music people have to be convinced is music.

(seen them twice, too)