The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the idea of categories that assist people in listening to music. It is unusual for me to use these categories in everyday life as I usually think of them as something purely theoretical. However, reading the text about these five elements showed me that being aware of them could make listening to music even more exciting than it usually is.
My approach to listening to music is mainly emotional and very subjective and using SHMRG is helpful to broaden this experience. I rarely think of what exactly I like about musical pieces or how the composer wanted the music to influence me. The questions for SHMRG categories are aimed at not only understanding the music better. They help to see the composer’s intent behind using a certain rhythm, sound texture, or form (Wilson). It is interesting to see how these SHMRG elements affect my perception of music and associations and the emotional response they provoke.
Another point to reflect on is what exactly in these categories affects my music preferences. As I said before, my experience with listening to music is based on a subjective approach. It seems reasonable to consider what exactly makes me prefer one piece of music to another. I wonder how much my selection of music depends on dynamics, tonality, shape, and motion. Understanding these categories will help me find more music to my taste.
In conclusion, reading the text about SHMRG categories made me realize that learning these elements helps me enjoy listening to music more. This knowledge is useful for understanding the composer’s message more clearly. It provokes a certain level of self-awareness in experience with music as well. Knowing how these categories affect me helps me learn more about my own music preferences.
Work Cited
Wilson, Frances. “The Composer’s Intentions?” Interlude, Web.