Why Lay Music?

20th century culture, as a result of the commercialization of concert music in the 18th and 19th century, and even more of the development of recorded music in the 20th century, sees music almost entirely as something that professional musicians do, and the rest of us pay for.

I believe that there are a lot of people who do not make their living doing music, who find making rather than consuming music is a very important part of their lives.

I think music should be like eating and drinking -- you don't need to cook as well as someone else does to enjoy a meal with them, and there should be ways to enjoy making music with people who sing or play with different ability levels and different styles.

For this to happen, I think everyone who would like to see it should be doing the following:

Whenever you perform, try to include the audience on at least one number
Whenever you organize an event, try to include as much live, rather than recorded music as possible.
Whenever you play music, have food and drink as part of the program.
Whenever you eat with others, try to include singing, dancing or playing together as part of the evening.
If you do publish recordings, try to make the music as accessible as possible for people who would like to use your recording to play the music themselves. If it is music that can be learned in an aural tradition, include the words and translations. If it is not, have the liner notes include pointers to where it is published.

I have spent quite a lot of time investigating various ways in which people who are not professional musicians can make music together, including small choirs, recorder groups, and chamber music. The aspect of the early music movement which interests me most is the understanding of the different social contexts of music which was written to be played in people's living rooms, not in large concert halls or stadiums.

One recent investigation of how to print madrigals to make them suitable for use with the recorder group I direct, the Cantabile Consort, is described here: "See, See, Myne owne Sweet Jewel". More examples of this kind of publishing are on my music publishing page.

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Last modified: 2002-06-29 11:56, 2007
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