Music

From Wikisocion

Music, as well as other art forms, can be analyzed with socionic concepts, because the information aspects, as broad philosophical categories, can categorize the facets of practically any phenomena, and more specifically because people of the same type tend to express their musical creativity in similar ways.

Creative artistic activity is a form of self-expression through which artists and performers strive to convey a part of themselves — their unique perception, personality, experience, and vision. This is especially true of talented artists and performers, who must develop a distinct voice to be memorable to their audiences. To make a real impression, this voice must be a reflection of the artist's personality rather than a simple marketing decision made out of expedience. So we might expect the artistic expression of people of the same type to be roughly as similar as, say, their management style.

See music and socionics for some examples of socionics in music.

[edit] Music and states of mind

Different music is rooted in different states of mind and is meant to produce this same state of mind in listeners. See information elements for some of those corresponding states.

Artists do not only produce music that reflects their Ego functions. However, we would expect information elements to be manifested in music according to the functions of its creators. Thus music tends to emphasize some information elements above others (especially quadra values). Also, multiple composers or band members may make their own distinct contributions to the music.

[edit] Musical techniques

The specific techniques used to convey the states above differ from genre to genre, but they share some similarities. For example, in vocal music     is often conveyed through high, soul-wrenching wailing. In instrumental music, instruments can imitate the wail of a human voice to convey the same emotional experience.

    : touching melodies and harmonies without many embellishments; slow broken chords;

    : dramatic embellishments; high, wailing sounds; manipulating sound quality to create a wrenching effect; melodies largely independent of chord structure; imitation of sounds (of human voice, laughter, animals, etc.) using instruments;

    : clearly delineated patterns of notes; unifying structure in melody, harmony, and tonal progressions; repetition of simple patterns; progressive layering of harmonic lines; step-by-step modification (theme and variation)

    : well-articulated, strong, unchanging rhythm; fairly fast tempo (a fast walk); melody highly dependent on chord changes; strongly defined sections

    : flowing sound texture; sounds that imitate nature; slow to medium rhythm; swift melodic resolution and clearly minor or clearly major chords

    : heavy, percussive beat; in rock, strong "power chords"; in classical music, extensive use of brass, timpani, and other percussion to convey a sense of bigness (not necessarily loud)

    : echoes and reverberation; gradual emergence of chords; lack of emphasis on percussion

    : eclectic, unexpected melodic structures, instrumentation, and styles within the same composition; continuous melodic embellishment; introducing new melodies, textures, and variations through the course of a piece

The socionic dichotomies also correspond to musical techniques.

[edit] Challenges

One of the challenges in recognizing socionic concepts in art forms is that all information aspects are present; that is, no matter what the composer's type is, the listeners may interpret it with the full range of information elements when they listen. This may be likened to sculpture: The artist can't prevent someone from looking at it from the back. Hence, highly skilled composers may tend to display competence with a fuller range of information aspects than would be the case if just focusing on the Ego block. This effect is compounded by the fact that composers sometimes write not what represents themselves, but instead, what represents their ideal, which would include their Super-Id block. Accordingly, in typing music, one can't always rely on the idea that only a few information aspects are salient; one must look at how all the information aspects relate to the whole.

[edit] Traditions of various genres

Another challenge in discerning information aspects in music is the role of musical traditions in each genre. For example, in classical compositions it is common to start with a settled tonic harmony, and have the harmonic progression become more unstable before eventually settling on the tonic again. Similarly, often longer classical compositions start out with a clear, unambiguous theme and gradually build up tension and suspense, which may culminate in a musical climax, after which the music returns to its original theme. Someone who is less acquainted with classical traditions might think such progressions indicate a shift between     (stability) and     (instability), or may interpret each moment as indicating vastly different information aspects (e.g.,     every time the music gets louder). A deeper understanding of the main point or thread is required to see the underlying psychic dimensions instead of viewing merely constantly shifting information aspects. (A similar phenomenon occurs in interpreting fiction, which generally features a variety of different kinds of events, tension, and release, all in the same story.)

[edit] Changing state of the listener

A well-formed piece of music may convincingly stimulate different information aspects depending on the state of mind of the person listening. If the listener is predisposed to hear certain information aspects, that listener may pick up on those more than others. Complementarity between different information elements in a piece of music may transcend any particular one. So depending on the listener's state of mind, this sense of completion may make an impression even if the information aspects the listener is hearing are completely different from those that the composer had in mind.