Interview 4 Questions

1. In comparison to orchestral music, do musicians playing in an un-conducted setting have more responsibility in the creation of the final product?


2.How differently do you think music is perceived from one person to another?


3. Is there any musical value in studying the composers inspiration for a piece of music?


4. Is it better to approach a piece of music objectively?


5. Must musicians approach different the performance of genres differently?


6. Are there different expectations regarding liberties in interpretation for different genres?


7a. Does there need to be a decided mood/tone of a piece?
7b. Does a musician discover that tone, or decide it?


8. What could be considered cheating in music:
     7a. taking adderall to practice? prescribed vs. not?
     7b. taking illegal drugs? too over come stage fright? weed vs. beta blockers?


9. What do you think about people that see stars like miles davis and charlie parker and imitate their drug use in hopes to bee as succesful?


10a. What is the main goal in performing music?
10b. recorded music?


11a. Is there prejudice in music? (blind auditions)
11b. Does this prejudice influence live performances?


12. Music philosophy also covers more abstract topics like defining music, time/rhythm, and what constitutes a performance. Are these topics relative to a musician or performance?


13. What is the most important aspect of a performance for the performer?
13b. The audience?


14. What constitutes a performance?


15. Does a musical piece eventually need to be performed to be considered a work of art?


16. In what ways can a musician disrespect the composer or the piece they are playing?


17. What disrespectful behavior do you see most often, and how can one fix the problem?


18.What obligations does a conductor have to the performers? the audience? composer? what is the biggest obligation?


19. What is the purpose or significance of music? Is some music more important than other music?


20.Who decides the message or meaning of a piece? The composer, performer or audience?

Interview 3 Questions

1. What would you consider a conductors job?
2.What obligations does a conductor have to the performers? the audience? composer? what is the biggest obligation?
3.What methods do a conductor use to convey his musical vision to the orchestra?
4. How do you approach a new piece of music? is this process different for conductors and musicians?
5.Who decides the message or meaning of a piece? The composer, performer or audience?
6.What is the most important thing a musician can understand about the music they are performing?
7. Do you think a musician listens to music differently from a non musician?
8. What is the purpose or significance of music? Is some music more important than other music?
9. What philosophical understanding of music is most important to a musicians performance?

Interview 2 Questions

1) How long have you been involved in music and what drew you to it?

2) What would you is the most important thing you can teach a young musician on the topic of music philosophy?

3) What  are your opinions on the ethics of performance, especially pertaining to the performance of others compositions?

4) At what point would you say that a performance of a piece differs so much from the original score, that it can no longer be considered a performance of that piece?  (I'm having a hard time phrasing this one)

5) Have you composed any music? if so, how would you describe your composing process, and how much influence would you say has outside music had on it?

Interview 1 Reflection

I would say that the most important thing i learned from my interview was that Dr. Bowen is interested in Music Philosophy. This is important to me because I now have another option for my future interviews.

Interview Check

1) Who are you interviewing and why?

Im am interviewing a student I know at Mt Sac, he is a self taught pianist and composer. I feel like he a unique perspective on the process of music, and music philosophy.

2) You’ve been assigned 5 questions, what other questions would you like to ask your interviewee?

I would like to ask his point of view on certain controversial topics in music philosophy. I would also like to ask a few specifics on the composing process, from his perspective. 

Interviews