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Music
¶
Socionic concepts can be carried over with some success to
music
,
other
art
forms, and many other areas of human activity.
A
music and socionics
project has been begun
at Wikisocion to elaborate some of the possible links between socionics
and music.
Theory
¶
There are a couple reasons to suppose music can be described in socionic
terms:
People of the same types may prefer to express their musical
creativity in somewhat similar ways.
The
information aspects
, as broad
philosophical categories, can be used to describe different facets of
practically any phenomena.
Creative artistic activity is a form of self-expression through which
artists and performers strive to convey a part of themselves – their
unique perception, personality, experience, and vision. This seems to be
especially true of
famous
artists and performers, who must develop a
unique voice to be memorable to their audiences. To effectively tap into
the artist’s potential, this voice must be a true expression of the
artist’s deep interests and self rather than a simple marketing decision
made out of expedience. Hence, we might expect the artistic expression
of people of the same type to be roughly as similar as, say, their
management style.
Psychic states and music
¶
Different music is rooted in different states of mind and strives to
produce this same state of mind in listeners. Different artists have a
tendency to focus on certain states of mind above others, though echoes
of many different states of mind can be found in the work of many
well-rounded artists. No matter how eclectic the artist is, however, he
cannot avoid a focus or “vector” of some kind – otherwise his music
would completely lack cohesiveness and memorability.
Here is a rough outline of the
kinds of states that different kinds of
music might produce in listeners,
with their associated socionic
symbols:
: feelings of endearment, closeness, moral
satisfaction, and emotional sensitivity; a feeling of deep personal
conviction that may produce the effect of moral firmness and resolve.
: passions; the desire to express one’s feelings and
inner experiences outwardly through expressive gestures such as
dance-like movements or vocal-like embellishments
: a sense of internal orderliness and correctness of
phenomena; a sense of understanding of how to build a complete system
from individual parts
: an active, but steady and purposeful state conducive
to performing goal-oriented activities and creating order in one’s
surroundings
: a physically relaxed and comfortable state free of
irritants; a focus on enjoying the pleasure of the moment
: a mobilized state full of vitality and energy or
implied strength; the desire to make strong, bold, and powerful
movements
: a dreamy, mysterious, wistful, melancholic, or
reflective state of inner discovery and searching; reflecting upon
the future or the past
: a state of trying to see novel connections or
combinations between parts; an openness to continual change and
newness, including things unexpected, random or abrupt, or novel
The list above does not imply that artists only produce music that
reflects their two strongest mental functions. However, we would expect
to see an emphasis on these states above others. Also, the individual
emphasis of the leading musician or composer may be complemented (or
distorted) by fellow band members who are also trying to make their
individual contribution to the piece.
Specific musical techniques used to convey different states
¶
The specific techniques used to convey the states above differ from
genre to genre, but a familiarity with different genres reveals that the
techniques are similar from genre to genre. For example, in vocal music
is often conveyed through high, soul-wrenching wailing.
In instrumental music appropriate instruments are used that can imitate
the wail of a human voice and convey the same emotional experience.
: beautiful melodies and harmonies without many
embellishments; slow broken chords;
: dramatic embellishments; high, wailing sounds;
manipulating sound quality to create a wrenching effect; dramatic
melodies that are largely independent of chord structure; imitation
of sounds (of human voice, laughter, animals, etc.) using
instruments;
: high focus on patterns of notes and structure of
melody, harmony, and tonal progressions; meaningful repetition
: well-articulated, strong, unchanging rhythm; melody
highly dependent on chord changes; preference for fairly fast tempo
(e.g. a fast walk); strongly defined sections
: flowing sound texture; use of nature-imitating
sounds; avoidance of fast rhythm; preference for swift melodic
resolution and clearly minor or clearly major chords
: heavy, percussive beat; strong “power chords” (in
rock music); extensive use in classical music of brass, timpani,
other percussion to convey a sense of bigness (not necessarily loud)
: use of echoes and reverberation; gradual emergence
of chords; lack of emphasis on percussion
: use of eclectic, “random” melodic structures,
styles, and concepts within the same composition; continuous melodic
embellishment; introducing new melodies, textures, and variations
through the course of a piece
Challenges
¶
One of the challenges in recognizing socionic concepts in music and
other art forms is that all
information aspects
are present; that is, no matter what the composer’s type is, the
listeners have at the their disposal the full range of
IM elements
when they listen. This may be likened to
sculpture: The artist can’t prevent someone from looking at it from the
back. Hence, highly skilled composers may tend to display competence
with a fuller range of information aspects than would be the case if
just focusing on the
Ego
block. This effect is compounded by
the fact that composers may tend to write not what represents
themselves, but rather, what represents their ideal, which may be their
Super-Id
block. Accordingly, in typing music, one can’t
always rely on the idea that only a few information aspects are salient;
one must look at the way all information aspects relate as a whole.
Traditions of various genres
¶
Another challenge in discerning information aspects in music is the role
of musical traditions in each genre. For example, in classical
compositions it is common to start with a settled tonic harmony, and
have the harmonic progression become more unstable before eventually
settling on the tonic again. Similarly, often longer classical
compositions start out with a clear, unambiguous theme and gradually
build up tension and suspense, which may culminate in a musical climax,
after which the music returns to its original theme. Someone who is less
acquainted with classical traditions might construe such progressions as
indicating a shift between
(stability) and
(instability), or may interpret each moment as indicating vastly
different information aspects (e.g.,
every time the music
gets louder). A deeper understanding of the main point or thread is
required to see the underlying psychic dimensions instead of viewing
merely constantly shifting information aspects. (A similar phenomenon
occurs in interpreting fiction, which generally features a variety of
different kinds of events, tension, and release, all in the same story.)
Changing state of the listener
¶
A well-formed piece of music may convincingly stimulate different
information aspects depending on the state of mind of the person
listening. If the listener is predisposed to hear certain information
aspects, that listener may pick up on those more than others. The sense
of connection between different
information aspects
(e.g.,
duality
) in a
piece of music may transcend any particular information aspect. Hence,
depending on the state of mind of the listener, this sense of completion
or overall harmoniousness may make an impression even if the information
aspects the listener is hearing are completely different from those that
the composer had in mind. However, it is likely that the majority of
listeners would still identify the main elements of the music even if
separate individuals hear something else in it.