Against Music as Communication: Implications for Education

Abstract

It is with some trepidation that I select this title, knowing full well that, in order to justify the word against, I have construed the word (and perhaps even music) too narrowly and may thus have no defense against claims that my meaning is only that of mere transmission which, after all, is something less than real communication. I agree. But what I intend to show here is that it is precisely the view of music as a transmission process that has been most prominent in the minds of those who speak of music as communication and, since this is the very view that I reject, I let the title stand. For the sake of this essay, let communication be considered some transmission process through which meanings of a sort are conveyed from one person to another. We explore here the nature of that view and an alternative I wish to propose and conclude with what meaning all this may have for education. I make my point about music because that is the art form with which I am most familiar. The examples cited are also drawn from writings about music. Nevertheless, I believe that the argument is potent enough to extend at least in a general way to other art forms particularly to nonverbal or nonrepresentational ones or to nonverbal aspects of other art forms and that the implications for music education with which I concern myself could apply to aesthetic education and arts education as well.