Do You Need Musical Knowledge To Critique Music? (Thinkpiece)
Ever since Lizzo's infamous tweets on the subject of music reviewers, I've found myself often pondering the legitimacy of her claim that only people who make music themselves can truly review other's music. A short answer would be a definitive no, but my view on the matter is less discrete.
Firstly, anyone can consume and potentially enjoy any music and therefore everyone has a right to an opinion on it, just as they do for food, film and any consumer products. As many people stated in the backlash to Lizzo's tweets, you don't need to be a chef to critique food, or a musician to critique music. We're the audience and we have a right to express how we feel; however, that isn't to say the argument ends there because Lizzo's claim has at least elements of truth to it.
Whilst you don't necessarily have to be a musician yourself, it's true that coming from a place of at least basic knowledge of how it's constructed will lend itself to not necessarily a better appreciation but a better understanding of the parts that make it what it is, which is of course greatly helpful when reviewing the music itself. The further this knowledge goes the more you could say about the construction and sound of the music, although the effect it has on you is your own regardless of musical understanding.
To "get" music you don't need any of this knowledge, but when reviewing it this can help to formulate what you're trying to say and to specify the aspect of the music you're talking about. Specifically when critiquing the production of a song or album, I have personally found that the more I understand as a result of making my own music, the more I am able to talk about the production of other people's albums and, specifically with the mixing, notice a whole lot more about the placement and structure of sound... And I think that anyone could do that.
Anyone could do that because anyone can talk about the purpose and effect of music because of how exactly it speaks to them. Music, like any form of art, is subjective and free speech...is real (woaaaaah!) so you can have whatever opinion you like. That said, my opinion is valid too and you should definitely keep reading my blog :). In my opinion, the best reviews are a blend of musical analysis with emotional impact, and to be completely honest I'm always more impressed by and inclined to make reviews that do favour the more emotional and contextual side that focuses on that aforementioned purpose and effect of music.
Conclusively, I don't believe that making music is an essential part of being able to critique it, although I would say that knowing about the construction can greatly improve the amount of things you have the potential to talk about. You don't need to talk about any of that when reviewing music, but it may give you more to say.
I know this was a reasonably brief post but it's part of a new series I'm calling Thinkpiece where I give my thoughts as a reaction to something that's happened, recently or not. I also have to apologise for the length between this and my last post, and I promise there's more coming down the pipeline very soon. Thanks for those of you that stuck with me through my Year End lists for 2019, I've got to decide whether or not I want to write a Best Hits list but other than that we're back to the usual amalgamation of rants, reviews, thinkpieces and other posts.
Firstly, anyone can consume and potentially enjoy any music and therefore everyone has a right to an opinion on it, just as they do for food, film and any consumer products. As many people stated in the backlash to Lizzo's tweets, you don't need to be a chef to critique food, or a musician to critique music. We're the audience and we have a right to express how we feel; however, that isn't to say the argument ends there because Lizzo's claim has at least elements of truth to it.
Whilst you don't necessarily have to be a musician yourself, it's true that coming from a place of at least basic knowledge of how it's constructed will lend itself to not necessarily a better appreciation but a better understanding of the parts that make it what it is, which is of course greatly helpful when reviewing the music itself. The further this knowledge goes the more you could say about the construction and sound of the music, although the effect it has on you is your own regardless of musical understanding.
To "get" music you don't need any of this knowledge, but when reviewing it this can help to formulate what you're trying to say and to specify the aspect of the music you're talking about. Specifically when critiquing the production of a song or album, I have personally found that the more I understand as a result of making my own music, the more I am able to talk about the production of other people's albums and, specifically with the mixing, notice a whole lot more about the placement and structure of sound... And I think that anyone could do that.
Anyone could do that because anyone can talk about the purpose and effect of music because of how exactly it speaks to them. Music, like any form of art, is subjective and free speech...is real (woaaaaah!) so you can have whatever opinion you like. That said, my opinion is valid too and you should definitely keep reading my blog :). In my opinion, the best reviews are a blend of musical analysis with emotional impact, and to be completely honest I'm always more impressed by and inclined to make reviews that do favour the more emotional and contextual side that focuses on that aforementioned purpose and effect of music.
Conclusively, I don't believe that making music is an essential part of being able to critique it, although I would say that knowing about the construction can greatly improve the amount of things you have the potential to talk about. You don't need to talk about any of that when reviewing music, but it may give you more to say.
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