We Can All Make Music.
Made to sing
The biological imperative
Let’s
begin with the larynx (aka the voice box).
We all have one and it's as integral to our anatomies as our fingers,
eyes and feet. It's the gateway to our
lungs - we use it to hold our breaths and to stop eating getting mixed up with
breathing. And we use it to make speech;
at least (well, we use about ten per cent of it anyway). That's right, only a tenth of the complex web
of muscles which suspend the larynx in position are activated in conversation.
So when is the
larynx used to its full capacity? You
guessed it: when, and only when, we sing.
We have been,
quite literally, made to sing. Our bodies are musical instruments. How did this come to pass?
For believers in
Intelligent Design, the answer is simple - the Designer made us musical so that
we could sing his (or her) praises. For
adherents of Charles Darwin’s Evolutionist Theory, the answer is a little
more complex, and will probably always be speculative.
In fact, the
Evolutionists are split: some believe that our musicality is just a decorative
by-product of the development of our linguistic capacities. Others, possibly most, agree that this “singing thing” must have
developed because, in some ways, it enhanced our capacity to survive.
This is where
the complexities begin. At least half-a-dozen probabilities, not necessarily mutually
exclusive, are being tossed-around by Evolutionary Biologists,
Neuro-scientists, Paleo-Archaeologists and the like. These include:
The standard
Darwinian line about sexual selection: from the serenade outside the loved
one's bedroom window to musicians becoming objects of sexual desire.
Food procurement:
mimic the sound of your prey and it'll be easier to catch.
Predator scaring:
sound like an elephant and the tiger will move on (and a whole group sounding
like a herd of elephants is seriously scary - see below).
Infant rearing:
mothers sing to their babies even before they are born; the ear is the first
sense organ to become active and virtually
all early mother / child vocal interaction can be described as musical.
Territory (and
identity) defining: singing the national song is mandatory in many education
systems, and is arguably the human version of bird song.
Communication of
emotion: some feelings can only (or at least best) be expressed musically.
There are also
the speculations arising out of the idea that “group” selection is
as important a part of our evolutionary history as “individual”
selection:
The “military”
model: a group display of impeccably co-ordinated aggression will strike such
fear into the enemy that they'll run a mile (the haka perfectly embodies this
idea).
The
“social” scenario: the fact that music-making involves groups doing
something simultaneously and together (unlike speech which is a “back and
forth” thing) leads many to think that, along with dance, singing
developed as the means by which our ancestors learnt to co-operate and (equally
as important) to enjoy co-operating.
This last idea
takes us far deeper into our collective psyche than just concerning itself with
time and motion co-ordination (itself a critical issue in the survival of a
small group of hominids). The key
elements of music - rhythm and pitch - are the fundamental tools which allow us
to recognise, implement and celebrate commonality - without a word being
spoken.
Those exploring
this idea believe that before humans developed language, in order to survive,
they needed a way to bind the group, to be together comfortably and
productively, to get to know each
other, hence the creation of song and dance, or what's fast becoming known as
“musicking”.
In conclusion,
making music together is not just a useful community development tool; it is
the unique evolutionary characteristic of humans which allowed us to become
effective social beings.
CMV - making a
sound world together.
©
Community Music Victoria Inc.