The Four Fields of Music

When thinking of music most people instantly refer back to an album they just bought or have a flashback to a previous concert they saw, without realizing that there are actually two other forms of music that they may not be aware of. The four fields of music are Participatory, presentational,high fidelity, and Studio Audio Art. Each of these play an important role in the concept of music.



 First we have Participatory In this form of music there is no distinction between the audience and the performer. Everyone is encouraged, in fact expected to participate This is a great way to boost creativity and hold the interest of those involved. It is also a great way for every one to express themselves without having judgment of those around them. No matter the skill level of the individual they can still participate shamelessly. There are some limitations though. First it is probably not going to be interesting for the people just watching and not participating. There are also limitations as to what the individual can do because they are not able to show their individual talents. 


This line dance from footloose is a great way to show participatory music because everyone is participating, even those that do not know how.



Next we have Presentational.

Presentational is what most people would consider to be a concert. This is where the performer or in the case of the video below, the musician,  performs for a crowd of people. The audience's job is to sit back and be entertained while the performer does what he or she loves to do. In this field of music the participation of everyone is limited and not required. Another limitation is the fact that unlike participatory there could be some judgement. THis does however allow the performer to move freely with his art form and do whatever he or she desires with no limitations on skill level.

The following song was done by Ed Sheeran for the UK Xfactor in 2012. He performed this for an audience making it presentational.



High Fidelity

High Fidelity is the music that you buy on iTunes. These are recordings of the songs made to seem like they are live, that go through multiple steps of editing, and are then sold to the public. These sounds added to these songs are used to make up for the lack of visuals that are normally seen during presentational performances. These recordings are convenient because the music can be listened to at any time, but it can also make the artist sound different than if they were performing live.


This song is by Mumford and Sons, and is the recording so it is not being performed live for an audience.















Studio Art Production

Studio art production is also a recorded form of music. This form however is made mostly of electronic sounds. This a form of music that cannot ever be performed live because there is little to no human interaction within the actual music. This however is a good way to express yourself in a different way, or to really pump up a crowd in a club.

While this song does have some voice and instruments, it could never be all performed live.