"There can therefore be no such thing as completely objective knowledge, knowledge of the external world exactly as it is, since everything we can possibly know about it is me- diated by the way in which we, the knowers, work on the information about it that we receive and convert it into usable knowledge." (42) this is an interesting point. Ones perception of knowledge is always tainted by the way of acquiring that knowledge and one's temperament/disposition

"What they all have in common is, first, that they convey an impression of opulence, even sumptuousness. There is wealth here, and the power that wealth brings. But on the other hand, there is a careful avoidance of any suggestion of vulgarity. " (31) I agree this is a good point.

"o music is to take part, in any capacity, in a musical performance, whether by performing, by listening, by rehearsing or practicing, by providing material for performance (what is called compos- ing), or by dancing." (15) definition of musicking, main argument.

"(for in many cultures if no one is dancing then no music is happen - ing, so integral is dance to the musical act)," (15) that is interesting, I wonder which cultures this is true for.

"For performance does not exist in order to present musical works, but rather, musical works exist in order to give performers something to perform." (14) I like this!

"It suggests also that music is an individual matter, that composing, per- forming and listening take place in a social vacuum; the presence of other listeners is at best an irrelevance arid at worst an interference in the individ - ual’s contemplation of the musical work as it is presented by the perform- ers. A flowchart of communication during a performance might show ar- rows pointing from composer to performers and a multitude of arrows pointing from performers to as many listeners as are present; but what it will not show is any arrow pointing in the reverse direction, indicating feedback from listener to performers and certainly not to composer (who in any case is probably dead and so cannot possibly receive any feedback). Nor would it show any that ran from listener to listener; no interaction is assumed there" (12) in a spirited/enthusiastic crowd at a popular music concert, the fans are shouting and cheering and that boots the energy of the performer, so I disagree with this statement; there can be arrows drawn from the direction of the audience/listener to the performer

"We note the corollary to that idea, which is seriously held by many musical scholars and even musi- cians: only those who can read a score have access to the inner meanings of music. One wonders, in that case, why we should bother performing musi- cal works at all, when we could just sit at home, like Brahms, and read them as if they were novels." (11) Not sure what to think about this claim but it definitely is a strong/polarizing one. i think that I do not agree with this -- people who can only listen to music can fully appreciate it and access its inner meanings - inner meanings of music is perhaps subjective.

"corollaries" (11) means a direct or natural consequence or result.

"immanent" (11) means existing or operating within; inherent.

"busman's holiday" (310) is a vacation or form of recreation that involves doing the same thing that one does at work

"apperceive" (309) means to be aware of perceiving

I don't really understand the second paragraph on pg 308 that introduces psuedo-individualization

I don't really understand why popular music falls into the sphere of luxury production. That being said, what is luxury production? - pg 308

desideratum, on pg 307, means something that is needed or wanted.

second paragraph on page 307 starting from "The other is for the material to fall within the category o f what the musically untrained listener would call “natural” music:"

I find this interesting, the concept of natural musical language and that that is developed and harnessed from a very young age, from nursery rhymes.

"we are not concerned here with bad serious music which may be as rigid and mechanical as popular music" (305) -- key argument.

what qualities make bad serious music?

"we are not concerned here with bad serious music which may be as rigid and mechanical as popular music" ( 304)

I can't find a definition of transvaluate but transvalue is to reestimate the value of, especially on a basis differing from accepting standards; to reevaluate especially on a basis that repudiates accepted standards "transvaluate" (303)

This is kind of demeaning to all popular music -- I don't agree/don't enjoy this take.

"The beginning o f the chorus is replaceable by the beginning of innumerable other choruses" (303)

I like this wording and concept here -- that every detail/note gets its true meaning from its context in the song or piece as a whole. So is this not as much true for popular music?

" Taken in isolation the second them e would be disrobed to insignificance" (303)

This is an interesting way of describing the standardization of music. I hadn't thought of this before, that popular music is predictable in its harmonies, themes, octave range, etc.

"nothing fundamentally novel will be introduced" (302)