Music

In the last class, people talked about this music as being "elitist." I can see that. It's very controlled, very formal. Some talked about it being calming. Maybe. I'm not sure that classical music makes me feel calm though with its frills and bombast. It's rigid, the way that people in historical movies dance w/ their backs all straight.

This has a dirtier, rougher feel to it. It's less rigid, controlled. I imagine the first group of musicians in a concert hall, but this could be played on a porch or in a pool hall w/ beer on the floor.

I think it's interesting that Hoffmann juxtaposes the blues against classical. It might be true that it's "looser" than classical, but in some ways it's also very rigid. The rhythm section chugs along repeating the same rhythm over and over. Even the lyrics are pretty repetitive. Everything seems to be a backing track for the lead guitar (and harmonica). If Hoffmann wanted to talk about something looser and swingier, I would have thought he would liken his writing to jazz, a truly improvisational genre. Maybe he's not a fan of jazz.