The Four Fields of Music

There are four fields of music; those fields are Participatory, Presentational, High Fidelity, and Studio Audio Art. Participatory music can be defined as music where there is no distinction between artist and audience. Circle singing is a type of participatory music wherein all people in the group are expected to put in music, often of their own creation, where it seems fit within the performance. The purpose of circle singing is not necessarily to sound good but to make music in a cohesive form as a group. Sometimes there is direction but more often than not circle singing is not directed.

The potential of participatory music is that a participant could be an extremely experienced musician or could have just started singing yesterday and it wouldn't matter. There is such an element of social bonding that comes with participatory music that makes it wonderful. However, for people not participating this type of music can get boring and may not hold their interest. In addition, with the wide array of skill level there is the potential of the music not sounding good.

Presentational music is more of your concert type music. Going to a Fun. or Panic! At the Disco concert you would be experiencing presentational music. In presentational music an artist is entertaining the audience. There may be some elements of participatory music in their performance but it is mostly a sense of them giving a show.

A potential in presentational music is that there is more to enjoy for a bystander than if they were to watch participational music. However, there is a very strict difference between audience and artist that doesn't allow for the sense of community that is found in participatory music.

High Fidelity music is musical sounds heard on a recording that index a live performance. 

High Fidelity music uses studio production to mimic the feeling of "liveness" but also to fix any blend/balance issues. Of course this is a major perk, being able to have an almost musically perfect piece. However, since all of its value is placed on making a product for sale a lot of the heart and the artist's control is taken away.

Studio Audio Art is recorded music without the expectation that it should or could be preformed live. It is an art form free of the idea of authenticity.

Because this music is often computer generated the composer has the most control over the final product. The music itself is reminiscent of abstract art. Because of its inability to be performed there is a major draw back to this type of music: little to no human interaction. 

Thanks for taking the time to read this post!

-Maria