Music tonight

Why is there a band? What prehistoric forces congealed to drive us into forming musical ensembles? Even though there are many variations on musical groups (think clarinet choir), a general framework that has become patterned in instrumental formats is the idea of some people strumming, some people tooting, and still others banging on stuff (all of whom may at times be accompanying the hollering done by themselves or others). In this framework, there is also someone responsible for the "train engineer" role, which in Western harmony usually belongs to the bass instrument. The traditional rock band lineup is simply a variation on this pattern.

I've enjoyed plucking guitar strings and listening to the outcome since I was just a few months old (you can ask my Mom). I still haven't heard all of the tones that can be generated by one open guitar string. But the act of playing by oneself and listening to that output as input is really circular, like, and can create some unwanted feedback. People like me often say that one of the best experiences a person like me can have is to interact musically with at least one other person.

The truth is that just about everyone does this at some level. The intervals (distance between 2 notes) found in universal sing-song phrases (calling someone's name from afar, saying "NAh na nah BOoo boo") and the rhythmic elements to speech as affected by different emotions are evidence to support the theory that we connect to each other in a musical sphere (in addition to the cognitive and many other paradigms) while engaging in spoken language.

Is that how the band got started, or was it the other way around? What kind of music did people listen to in the Stone Age?