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   The author became introspective after writing the work's title. Musication is the often pronounced among music teachers (in the russian-spoken area), but what does this word "musication" mean? The author doesn't like those blurred definitions about
"musication", so he is going to explain his own definition of this term, and it's better tostart in a roundabout way…

WHAT IS MUSICATION?

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   The true spirit of scientific thinking is not to solve problems but to challenge them.   

   Let us open the Musical Encyclopedic Dictionary, issued in Moscow in 1990 [1]. On page 359: "Music is the art of intonation, an artistic reflection of reality in sound... "

   This, a purely conservative "scientific" definition of such a thing as music, it is not what we call music today. Nowadays, it is possible to buy music called "Shake Your Ass" (this article was written in 1998). Practically any modern young man will say that this is music, and one must have a very great scientific imagination while listening to this music, one can find here the “art of intonation” and “the artistic reflection of reality in sound”. There are many such examples. Certainly, you can make a notation and say the definition given by the Musical Encyclopedic Dictionary refers only to "conservatoire" music, that part of musical reality which is accepted for study in conservatories, but this will already be a phenomenon of the same order as the famous proverbial that appeared in the Soviet Union during the restructuring: "There Is No Sex In Our Country!" [2]. The true science should not be shut off from an environmental phenomena, otherwise it will be a scholatism, not a science.

   Is it possible to find something common between the music of Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, savage "Mumbo-Jumbo" and modern pop music? For scientific reasons, it is imperative to have a generalized definition of disparate musical phenomenas, because it is useless to argue with a language. You can argue with any native speaker, but it is stupid to argue with a language. And the language stubbornly calls music what does not fit the "conservatoire" definition of music.

   The author offers the following definition of music: music is a sound-rhythm in which a person finds meaning. All music is a sound-rhythm in the physiological aspect. Every sound-rhythm becomes music only when, apart from the physiological aspect, it also carries the semantic aspect. A sound-rhythm can also have a purely physiological meaning. Modern pop music is very physiological. The majority of the people do not actually understand the essence of the screams, which are sometimes pronounced in a foreign language and accompany the sound-rhythmic action. Basically, pop music serves to ensure that the people do respond to the sound-rhythmic act of the artists, accompanied by rhythmic movements. 

   Definitely, the author is aware that his definition of music is distorted. For example: a tractor noise is a sound-rhythm too in the physiological aspect of perception. For the most people, the tractor noise is not a music, but a sound-rhythm, because it does not find the response of the human "musical sense" or the human musical feeling. Here, we have to explain to the reader what the "human musical feeling" is.

   Certainly, any person who has ever been engaged in any science knows that any scientific definition is flawed and cannot incorporate all defined phenomena. If you ask any scientist, any philosopher who wrote dozens of books, “What's the meaning of life?”, no one can answer you properly. The author spoke with many musicians and musicologists who wrote articles about a music, and when you ask them what the music is, you can only see their embarrassed smile, not an answer. An answer is a solution of a problem, practices are engaged in solving problems in order to “close” the problem, true scientists and thinkers solve problems too, but with a purpose of opening a new problematics. The author of this article began his speech with this thought.

   The author's purpose is to identify the problematics of the most important issues of musicology and to give a definition of such a thing as musication at a heuristic level. So what is musication? Musication is a sound-rhythmic act performed by a person for the purpose of a musical self-satisfaction. Musication is a dialogue of a musicating person with himself. Musication is one of the essential human needs and demands. It is possible, of course, to smile widely by reading these words, but it's better to think deeply…

   Not every person has natural musical abilities, however, almost everyone has musical needs and demands from nature. If this was wrong, mankind would not have had such a powerful music industry. Religiousness, Sexuality and Musicality are “three pillars” on which the human intellectual activity relies on. Religiousness, Sexuality and Musicality are non-verbal components of the human spiritual sphere. A person can exist without performing neither religious, nor sexual, nor musical items, but this will be just existence, not life. Sound-rhythmic acts are the person's music dispatches, this is a Musication.

   Observing the musical phenomena of a mass culture, it is safe to say that a person has a physiological need for the sound rhythmic action, that is, for musication. As already mentioned, sound rhythm can only be called a music when it has any meaning for a person. The music of mass culture is understandable to millions of people of different nationalities and different cultures because the meaning of this music lies in simple physiological emotions. It can be lightly said that this music is for people with crude intellect but the author claims that even such people have their own musical needs. 

   The author believes that musical needs of people should be studied by the special science. Let's call it hypothetically "sound-rhythmology". Sound-rhythmology is a heuristic twin of such science as sexology. All science is based on axioms. Any extension of axiomatics significantly simplifies a theory. Some Freudians' reasoning, who reduce the motivation of human behavior to sexuality, looks bulky and weak. If musical and religious feelings are added to the sexual feelings, then, Freudian reasoning would be much simpler.

   Sound-rhythmology, being a heuristic twin of sexology, can use sexological terminology. Philosophically, this can be associated with the mathematical principle of duality. The essence of the mathematical principle of duality means that some mathematical theorems can be deduced automatically, replacing, for example, the word "point" with the word "direct" and vice versa. Justice of theorems will not suffer from such permutation. Similarly, in the sound-rhythmology there can be "musical minorities", by analogy with “sexual minorities” from sexology. The sound-rhythmology can study "musical fantasies" by analogy with "sexual fantasies." It may be defined such a term (even must be defined!) as a "music appeal (musopility)" of music, by analogy with sex appeal (sexopility) , etc.

   The sound-rhythmology, unlike musicology, is not a subject of humanities. The humanities study the creations of man, but man cannot be the creator of his physiological needs; therefore, sound-rhythmology can't be part of humanities. There is such a discipline in musicological science as "musical psychology". But psychology traditionally underlines the problems of human perception, whereas sound-rhythmology studies the fundamental components of the human essence, the vital needs of a person, the musical needs. It may be casually mentioned, that both animals and humans have similar psychological phenomena, but do humans and animals have equally similar musical needs?

   The author hopes that he made the reader feel that there is a significant difference between the problems of sound-rhythmology and the musical psychology. It seems that musical psychology, most likely, can be an auxiliary science, part of a more fundamental science of sound-rhythmology. Music knowledge can combine two sciences: sound-rhythmology, which studies the essential causes of musical phenomena at the level of physiology and musicology, which studies the phenomena of musical culture.

   Musical culture cannot develop on streets and squares. For the development of the musical culture, special institutions are required, such as music schools, music colleges, conservatories and academies. The concept of "culture" comes from the Latin word colto - "cultivate". Originally, this word meant a cultivated soil. Every person by nature has a "uncultivated soil of feelings". Homo sapiens during the life cultivates his feelings. In cultivating such spontaneous human feelings as religious, sexual and musical feelings, much depends on the school. Currently, the system of religious education is becoming fashionable in many civilized countries. Religious education involves the introduction to the culture of satisfying the religious needs, i.e. prays in each religion. The pray is required for a person to feel his communion, or his participation (from the word "part") to a single world spirit.

   A worthy place in the system of music education should occupy the culture of satisfying the musical needs -  the culture of musication. A musication culture, unlike the sound-rhythmic elements, into which a brain of a person can easily fall, should give a sense of his involvement in a single world musical culture.

   It's arguable about national and international things in the world music culture, it can be a problematic part of musicology and musicologists, it is important to realize that world music culture exists, but the existence of a music culture is directly connected with the rational human cultural activities. And, if a mass musical culture relies on the irrational human principle, then attention should be paid to the culture of musication as one of the varieties of human intellectual activity.

   Here a question may arise: “what does this author say, because people do learn musication at musical schools!” … That's the point, musication often means playing musical instruments and it is often confused with musication.
In the process of musication, a person finds meaning directly through the sounds, while in the process of musical performing a meaning is embedded in the organizing of the sound idea. Musication is a sound-rhythmic act performed for oneself, musication (from music and mastrubation) is a process of musical self-satisfaction.

   As the author already said, a person “musically uncultured” easily falls into the sound-rhythmic element. Musical fashion is changeable, but "something" always remains which is accordant with people's senses with different generations and eras. This “something” is called one word - classics. At music schools much attention is paid to performance of classical music, but what about classical musication? 

   Certainly, music school students are musicating without asking for the teacher's permission. But often this musication is a screaming sound-rhythmic act with a dull face. In general, when a person shouts, he will not say clever things about "high matters." The author believes that the music school should instill a taste for musication, as a sound-rhythmic action “in frenzy”. What's the difference? Modern Russian speakers make a connection with the high religious-philosophical concept of frenzy with the word "stupidity". Frenzy is when the soul condition in a religious act of communion with a single world spirit, steps out of itself, merging with the One (world spirit). In the author's opinion, a person mastered the musication culture should enjoy more than a religionist. Musicating person, without forgetting of being homo sapiens, can feel involved in world spirit and world music culture at the same time.

   Unfortunately, many programs at music schools are built in such a way that a student perceives study as a Sisyphus work: you do not have time to cope with one hard work, as they give you another, even more difficult one. The teacher's excessive preoccupation of the musical development often deprives him of the natural need to musication. And, meanwhile, the majority of people express a desire to study music not because they would like to portray a nature by sounds, or human feelings, but because they naturally need to have a sound-rhythmic action, musication. Of course, there are other people with other inclinations, but now the author is talking about the majority of the people.

As long as pedagogy exists, pedagogical problems will exist. Two main problems will be the most difficult: what to teach and how to teach. But over these two main problems invisibly stands another fundamental problem that is not a pedagogical problem proper, but nevertheless, pedagogy always faces this problem and ... pushes it aside, because this problem is from the field of deep philosophy - why to teach ? That's the question!

   Any person can be taught a physical-culture: “an athletic exercise” with a great benefit for himself. However, you cannot make any person an athlete - for the sports with constant sporting perfection, you must have the aptitudes. In the same way, the overwhelming majority of people can engage in a "music culture" with a great benefit for themselves without becoming a musician at the same time. Because, in order to become a musician, one needs aptitudes for the continuous musical perfection.

It seems that many piano teachers will agree that most people, in principle, cannot improve their piano technique beyond the technical level of the third grade of a music school. However, having even reached this technical level, wide horizons open up for the people to engage in a music culture with great benefit for themselves. 

   Here, the author returns to the philosophical problem, which pedagogy constantly faces - why to teach? Why teach a person "music culture"? Thereafter, in order for a person to take off his “stress”, he felt a greater fullness of life with great benefit for himself by satisfying musical needs, i.e. by musication. Musication (musical self-satisfaction) is necessary not for material and pragmatic reasons, but for personal mental health.

   Now, let us return to the pedagogical issues, the two main and (eternal!) questions of pedagogy - what to teach and how to teach. First of all: what to teach a person who is starting to learn music? According to the author, first of all it is necessary to help a person engage in a musical self-satisfaction, i.e. musication. Why? Because the overwhelming majority of people go to study music not at all in order to “convey” any musical ideas to the audience, but because they have a spontaneous, not “conscious” need for the sound rhythmic action, i.e. for musication. Once again, the author wants to repeat that here we are talking about the vast majority of people.

   We will try to express this idea more prominently, more clearly, although somewhat exaggerated. Student often wants to “learn to play the piano,” the teacher teaches him to “listen to the sounds,” “read the notes,” “introduces,” “develops,” “educates,” according to the set of pedagogical traditions, as a result destroys his desire to be taught.  

Traditions are the roots of any culture; fighting with these roots is like fighting with the culture. But during musical education, it's necessary to take good care of one's musical nature. In the author's opinion, the mass musical culture is a protestant culture, the protestation against the difficulties related to a musical self-culturing. Many unsuccessful classical musicians broke with the classics and put the new roots down as a wild sound-rhythmic elements. Certainly, it seems a little bit exaggerated, but understandable. Ignoring the human musicality nature leads to a protest against musical culture. Let's recall, culture means cultivation. If one consciously shows his uncultivated musical nature - it is a deliberate contradistinction of the musical elements to the the musical culture. According to the author, musical element cult, as a musical thinking's counterpart, is the mass music culture.

   The most prominent feature of the mass musical culture is the protest cultivation against the work on musical sound. For the author, ”the work” on musical sound, the culture (cultivation) and uniqueness of musical sound are the main landmarks of the classical musical thinking. According to the author, the main purpose of the classical musication (musical self-satisfaction) is the peace of mind.

The author's ideal is the "protestant" musical pedagogy, aimed against musical outrage - the main feature of the mass musical culture. “Musical pacification” against "musical outrage" is the main motto of the classical school of musication.

   So, the author answers to the first question "what to teach?" as follows: students must be taught musication, as a sound rhythmic action, aiming the appeasing the soul. And a special attention in this sound rhythmic action should be paid to the self-valued musical sound.

Now let's talk about the second question of musical pedagogy - “how to teach?”. How to teach music? How? Through musication! Musication, Musication and Musication again!!!

   The author managed to realize the main idea of ​​his introductory article, formulated above: "the author's purpose is to identify the problems of the most important issues of musicology and, at a heuristic level, to define musication". 

   Let's talk about the main topic. The theme of this article is "Musication as a Piano Learning Method". Everyone knows a vivid example of piano folklore, "Dog Waltz". Let us think, why is this play is handed down from generation to generation, without any notes or teachers? The author thinks that this play is tenacious thanks to its musical form. This play has a beginning, but no end. Secondly, this play requires a minimum amount of technical methods for learning. Thirdly, this play resonates in the fundamental component of human musicality - in the need for an uninterrupted sound rhythmic action. The endless musical form, the minimum of technical methods and measured sound rhythm induce a person to musication… Therefore, musical pedagogy can rely on these principles, with great efficiency for cause! The author proceeded from these principles while writing his educational compositions. 

   By pedagogical essence, the author’s plays remind of dog waltz. But the author is a professional pianist, who is not satisfied with the minimum of technical methods. To play these plays, elegant piano manners and subtle phrasing are required. But these plays were written exactly for the purpose to improve the students' "musical ear" and piano technique in the process of uninterrupted musication. Here the author finishes his theoretical explanations and suggests to refer to the notes-work.

 

 

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BIBLIOGRAPHY:

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[1] Aranovsky, Mark, Yuri Keldysh, L. Korabel'nikova, and Yu. Khokhlov, eds. Muzïkal'nyi entsiklopedicheskiy slovar' [THE MUSICAL ENCYCLOPEDIC DICTIONARY]., Moscow: Sovetskaya entsiklopediya, 1990. Arnshtam, Leo.

[2] Prominent Russians: Vladimir Pozner, retrieved from the Web October 31, 2018.
https://russiapedia.rt.com/prominent-russians/politics-and-society/vladimir-posner/