How Musical Is Man?

by John Blacking

This important study in ethnomusicology is an attempt by the author ― a musician who has become a social anthropologist ― to compare his experiences of music-making in different cultures. He is here presenting new information resulting from his research into African music, especially among the Venda. Venda music, he discovered is in its way no less complex in structure than European music. Literacy and the invention of nation may generate extended musical structures, but they express differences of degree, and not the difference in kind that is implied by the distinction between 'art' and 'folk' music. Many, if not all, of music's essential processes may be found in the constitution of the human body and in patterns of interaction of human bodies in society. Thus all music is structurally, as well as functionally, 'folk' music in the sense that music cannot be transmitted of have meaning without associations between people.

If John Blacking's guess about the biological and social origins of music is correct, or even only partly correct, it would generate new ideas about the nature of musicality, the role of music in education and its general role in societies which (like the Venda in the context of their traditional economy) will have more leisure time as automation increases.

Genres: Music, Anthropology, Nonfiction, Psychology, Africa, History, Academic

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

Reviews

[Meika · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! I was assigned to read it for a world music class and really enjoyed it. It was supposed to be an ethnography on the music of the Venda people of South Africa and although he spent some time talking about it, I was more interested (as I think he was) on his comments about music in general and how each society views and experiences it. I loved this quote, "The value of music is, I believe , to be found in the terms of the human experiences involved in its creation. There is a difference between music that is occasional and music that enhances human consciousness, music that is simply for having and music that is for being. I submit that the former may be good craftsmanship, but that the latter is art, no matter how simple or complex it sounds, and no matter under what circumstances it is produced."

[Alonzo Caudillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Los límites del análisis de Blacking no son para demeritar los logros que obtuvo: explicar la imbricación entre estructura musical y estructura cultural y social. Si bien no puede ser aún más específico, las conclusiones a las que llega en relación a la experiencia musical, la danza, el rito, el compartir la música y el enseñarla son satisfactorias como introducción al tema. Asimismo, es valioso porque su trabajo es deselitizar la codificación de la educación musical y desexotizar la mirada sobre los sistemas musicales de Sudáfrica. Un gran texto que es perfecto para adentrarse al mundo de la etnomusicología no colonialista.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

i've been meaning to finish this book since the start of this year. it is probably one of the great books on music you'll read (if you choose to read it!). john blacking studies the venda territory and people (South Africa) in this fascinating work that asks what does it mean to have musical talent? in this society, everyone contributes to musical performances, whereas in Western society, we have "experts" or "musicians" creating the music for the "listener."

I found this book to be very helpful for the topics I intend to discuss in my dissertation; namely, how does social interaction affect the way in which we cognitively process music? Form cognitive schemata? John Blacking has provided me with the inspiration and insight to approach these questions.

One of the better points in the book:

pp. 106: "If the whites of South Africa seem to perform better than the blacks, or the rich and elite of a country seem to perform better than the poor or the masses, it is not because they or their parents are cleverer or have a richer cultural heritage: it is because their society is organized in such a way that they have better opportunities to develop their human potential, and consequently their cognitive organization. If intelligence tests devised by members of a certain class show poor performance by the members of another class in a theoretically "open" society, we should first ask just how open the society is and consider to what degree its class divisions may inhibit the cognitive development of its less fortunate members."

i recommend this book to anyone who has any interest in music and more importantly, culture and society.

<3

[Cobertizo · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Me parece que en lo que último término es más importante en música no puede en ningún caso aprenderse. Está ahí, en el cuerpo, esperando a que lo despierten y desarrollen, igual que sucede con los principios básicos del lenguaje. A improvisar realmente no se aprende, lo cual no significa que la improvisación sea fruto del azar. El hombre que la realiza no ha sido improvisado: todos los aspectos de su conducta están sujetos a una serie de sistemas interrelacionados, estructurados, y cuando improvisa está experimentando tales sistemas en reacción a la respuesta de su audiencia. De modo similar, las mujeres casadas venda no tienen que reaprender la música domba. Reviven una situación social y la música adecuada surgirá cada vez que esa experiencia sea compartida cuando se den determinadas condiciones de individualidad en comunidad"

[Mari Brito · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leitura fundamental para músicos e interessados em música ou musicologia!

[Clivemichael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating. Unfortunately I couldn't appreciate the musical examples due to my illiteracy, but the collected wisdom and philosophical conjectures were inspiring.

[Lina An · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most examples were based on the African tribe and music that blacking was researching on. The golden nuggets are really in the interpretation and anecdotes based on the research.

[Gayathry · Rating 3 out of 5]

It reads like a thesis, but it would definitely be of interest to people who are into this topic on an academic level.

[Farida El-gueretly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I fell in love with this book. It really left an impression on me. This book is the perfect introduction to the anthropology of music, or ethnomusicology since it doesn't delve into too much music theory while giving a substantial understanding of the intertwined relationship of music, culture and society. Although he doesn't really answer how musical is man, Blacking gives a great framework or way to approach the issues that involve music, society and culture. He relies heavily on ethnographic fieldwork collected from the Venda people, which is fine, except generalizations can't be made through the observation of merely one group of people. What he essentially does is falsify generalized notions of music as a discipline through his analysis of the Venda people. Fair enough.

[Tom Graves · Rating 5 out of 5]

This slim volume is not only an insightful ethnography of Venda musical practices, but also thought provoking comment on why humans make music and, at the end, what European society can learn from the Venda. I was most excited by his assertion that the reason musics change over time and locality is because their purpose is to teach us how to be human in a way that is responsive to our individual and social experience.

[Nikolas]

Ethnomusicology is gently put in its place before it gets the better of itself. An excellent work from a profound humanist, asking questions that open a new horizon for a universal consideration of music.

[Tyler]

Great examination of the music phenomenon and of Shona music.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Far more impressive than I would've thought, definitely the progenitor of Turino's work and Small's.

[Fred Arcuri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another exceptional book from college that I just re-discovered. Absolutely worth the read.