Alan likes to use the example that our "pop culture" is more concerned with "air guitar" and "Guitar Hero" rather than appreciating genuine beauty and expressiveness of real instruments (even though it takes a bit longer to master).
I thought this was interesting, because I have a music teacher friend who says she can fairly reliably tell which families have a games console at home. The kids that do, and play Rock Band or something like it, are a long way ahead of everyone else in developing a sense of rhythm and pitch.
I think Kay is a genius, but this is a bad example of what he’s trying to say. I can’t imagine a culture that’s producing moving music but isn’t fascinated with the epiphenomena of music. Kay comes off as a “get off my lawn” old guy, which is a pity.
I guess this is a hard kind of thing to evaluate in one’s own time and place. We see history and other cultures in a kind of compressed view, without their everyday foibles and distractions. Whatever is familiar to the viewer necessarily seems more obsessed with the mundane.
If you've never played something like Rock Band (and it sounds like you haven't), you should really give it a try. The drums are practically identical to the real thing, and the vocal scoring is very good - if you get a high score on one of those instruments, then you are a good drummer or singer. It's only the guitar that's done by clicking buttons.
Alan likes to use the example that our "pop culture" is more concerned with "air guitar" and "Guitar Hero" rather than appreciating genuine beauty and expressiveness of real instruments (even though it takes a bit longer to master).
I thought this was interesting, because I have a music teacher friend who says she can fairly reliably tell which families have a games console at home. The kids that do, and play Rock Band or something like it, are a long way ahead of everyone else in developing a sense of rhythm and pitch.