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His music is held as a model to aspiring music students making their way through music academic institutions. Upon reading Miles’ autobiography, we find how much drugs and alcohol abuse dominated his life. To the people that knew him personally, he was a very mean spirited individual who often mistreated his wives and his friends. He died alone in a hospital bed. When I listen to songs of his like “Flamenco Sketches”....one of the most beautiful compositions I have ever heard, I think it was so tragic that he died the way he did.
All music (at least all western music) ultimately uses the same melodic (12 notes) and rhythmic vocabulary. Music is a language, and it does have its own vocabulary and syntax. Words can be carriers of spiritual force....good or bad. By the same token, music can also be a carrier of spiritual force to a certain extent....good or bad. When it comes to instrumental music, I think this is a little less so. Music can convey powerful emotions be it anger or joy, and this can influence the listener’s emotions as well. Still, people have different ways of interpreting what they hear, and no one in their right mind acts strictly by what they feel. This would be a dangerous thing indeed. Some music is more complex and demands much more from the listener as it might contain higher levels of rhythmic/melodic dissonance which certainly evokes feelings of tension and uneasiness. Hearing such pieces as the “Rite of Spring” by Stravinsky, or “A Love Supreme” by John Coltrane...these aren’t exactly pieces that you walk away humming after the first listening. Sometimes it takes repeated listening to get a sense of the substance of the music and all of its intricacies. In both cases, these are two of the best musicians that have ever lived, and the beauty of both compositions is no longer in question...
I think what makes music so powerful is how it can capture our imagination, intellect, and emotions so easily. In music, the extremes of consonance and dissonance, loud and soft, fast and slow, all seem to be amplified exponentially compared to any spoken language. One very well placed note can convey an image of hope or of despair. The thought that happens in a split second that makes a player decide to play one note would take far longer to express in words and convey
