Musicians and Performers: Who are they?

Brian Loughridge

Hannah Gorham

  

In our western culture we often hear people say things such as, "Everyone's a musician! You can sing, right? You're a musician!".  We have grown accustomed to the idea that practically anyone can be a musician if they want to; some people are just more musically inclined than others. It should be noted that idea is a very modern and western belief.  For centuries, the title of musician could only be obtained after years of training and perfecting a certain instrument or musical style. What we now consider "professional" musicians performed only for the highest class in a society and would rarely been seen by the lower classes. It wasn't until the renaissance period that the development of printing made distribution of music possible on a much larger scale.  This was the first time that notated music was easily accessible to the working class. The cultural boom that was the Renaissance Period gave birth to the Bourgeois class, a producing class with nothing to sell but their capacity to work and perform.  This working class of musicians was the precursor to every musical genius' that came out of the lower classes.

Although the working classes in England did not have notated music and were not considered "musicians" before the Renaissance, they still had their own way of musically expressing themselves. Troubadours and minstrels (medieval music makers) were a form of entertainment for both the working class and upper class. Much of their popularity came from their poetic ability in singing songs, not necessarily technical musical proficiency:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/A_Chantar2.ogg

Example of Medieval troubadour music

If this group of people performed with this level of musicianship before the renaissance why were they not considered "musicians" until they had notated music?  What separates a musician from someone who is just performing on the street? The modern troubadour still plays on the side of the street in America, yet we consider them a musician without a doubt.  Why would the street performer not be consider a musician then, but is considered a musician in our Western culture today?  All of these questions will have very different answers depending on where you are in the world when you ask them.  For example, when Bonnie Wade, the author of Thinking Musically, went to Bulgaria she asked her guide to introduce her to a local musician and  was taken to see the local Trumpeter.  After realizing that they considered him, not a local folk instrumentalist, to be a musician she was left wanting something less western.  She asked her guide if there were any vocal groups in town.  The guide told her that she was part of a local vocal group, but she failed to understand what connection there was between a man playing the trumpet and a group of people singing together.  In her mindset, there was no connection between this so called "Musician" and her vocal group.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_gm0j1H1kc

Bulgarian vocal performance

As westerners, would we not call this music?  Why then, did Wade's guide see no connection between the two? Perhaps such  acts of culture are so ingrained in daily life that to seperate them as "special" defeats their purpose.

The word musician comes from the Latin origin musica which through French and English influence became music as we know it today.  Many European motifs and musical influences greatly affected what we know as Western music today.  Therefore, the term musician is completely European and Western.  When music makers from other cultures hear the word musician it is immediately associated with Western music.  That is why Wade's guide in Bulgarian was confused as to why she was looking for a musician as well as the local vocal group.  Musicians and a cultural own personal way of expressing themselves musically is often very separate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xt41UrsGJJs

Qu'ran recitation

  

This recitation of the Quran is a perfect example of how cultures separate "music" and their own cultural expression.  Westerners hear this man recite the Quran and immediately associate it with a musically performance.  His culture, however, keep music and the recitation of the Quran very separate.  In their culture, music is very secular and used only for celebration or enjoyment while the recitation of the Quran is a very holy and divine act.  In fact, referring to this recitation as music can be and is very offensive to many people.

These examples show how expressing art in cultures varies greatly and the word "music" is just a title our culture as given these expressions.  No one can argue what is and what is not music because the idea of music is separately defined in every culture and every mind.

Hannah Gorham: Media + Writing Editing

Brian Loughridge: Writing