--- On Tue, 9/1/09, c b <cb31450 at gmail.com> wrote:
> CB: I'm in substantial agreement with the idea that music ,
> language
> and , in fact all culture, have a major "mnemonic device"
> component in
> them. Culture carries intergenerational "memories", from
> "time in
> memorium" (smile).
>
But this is what you reduce everything to! Think outside of the box man. :) It's not like you need some sophisticated intergenerational information-transmission apparatus to have a consistent culture. Do you know who invented the stone axe or the guitar or who your great- great- grandfather was? Given a more-or-less unchanging environment, all you need is for information to be passed through ONE generation, for which BTW you do not require language at all.
Question: what do we mean by "music" here? Do we mean 1) nonlinguistic noises I make with my mouth and/or hands in some kind of pattern, or do we mean 2) a system of chords, scales, rhythm, and so forth, or do we mean 3) a body of music (songs, musical pieces)? 1) is spontaneous and probably has no specific origin at all beyond the first time a hominid opened its mouth and went "la-la-la."
I would also note that using music to accompany your daily activities may not work out well in a nomadic hunter-gatherer society on the prairie. "Alright hunters! As we sneak up on the antelope, we must all intone 'The Song of Creeping through the Underbrush' at the top of our voices to best coordinate our attack. At home, I hope the womenfolk and old people are loudly chanting 'The Song of Being Really Quiet' so that lions do not notice them."