“A man’s got to have a code.”

Whether it’s Sandor Clegane, Omar Devone Little, or John Wayne, it seems everyone is in agreement on the subject. Every person needs a code. What is the nature of this code though? What is it and why is it necessary? There are several other meanings of the word code which can grant us a some insight into this word: the code used to program a computer, your genetic code, a system of symbols (as in a cipher), or a body of law. A person’s code then may be seen as a set of rules or instructions which govern their interpretations and actions. In other words, its your personal philosophy, and it is necessary for determining the view, standard, and manner by which you choose to interact with the world and with yourself. Your philosophy is a part of every action you take, every thought you have, because it is the basis by which you choose which actions to pursue and which thoughts to develop. It then follows: do you form your philosophy, or do you allow your philosophy to form you? That is, is your code explicit or implicit? Have you consciously laid down the foundational steps by which you have come to identify yourself, or have you allowed yourself to be haphazardly formed according to circumstance?

It is this line of thought which has led me to pursue the realization of my own philosophy during the second half of this study. When I was originally outlining this study my intention was an exploration of my aesthetics concerning music. I was aware then that such an exploration would necessarily encompass other branches of philosophy to a certain extent, but I had not anticipated that my curiosity would lead me to take on something of this scope. I began by reading Philosophies of Art & Beauty; Selected Readings in Aesthetics from Plato to Heidegger. From the introduction, it became clear that many of these philosophies of art were tied to deeper philosophical questions, such as the nature of reality. This reminded me of Botton’s chains of questions, and I understood that, if I wanted to fully appreciate my own musical aesthetic, I would need to determine my philosophy from the foundations up. That’s not to say that my attention shall shift away from esthetics, as art, and more specifically music, is clearly an avenue by which I may readily connect with the subject of philosophy. In fact, the introduction of Philosophies of Art & Beauty points out that some philosophers see art as “one of the keys to philosophical understanding” (xviii). What I mean to say is that, while I explore philosophy from the side of esthetics, I endeavor to also explore the “central hub composed of a few blunt, large questions” (Botton, 116).

I’ve been unsatisfied with most of what I’ve been reading in Philosophies of Art & Beauty, and have been exploring other avenues by which I may supplement my learning. I’ve learned a bit about Plato’s theory of forms, for example, from an online resource referred to me by my room mate. I also find that, while reading about philosophical ideas is helpful, discussing ideas with other can be so much more engaging and illuminating. So if any of you are interested about learning more about your personal philosophies, I’d be happy to open up a dialogue with you. It’s a win win situation, we both learn!

All that being said, the focus of this study is still music. This past week I’ve been working on a slew of new songs with my band. We also played a show in Rochester, and I’m looking forward to playing two house shows later this week. I’ve been enraptured by the piano, and have been learning Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata over the past few weeks. This past week I’ve been particularly focused on, and pleased with, the working up a new piano piece to add to my repertoire: Hirokazu “Hip” Tanaka’s Kraid’s Lair from Metroid. It’s a song I’ve really enjoyed for a long time, and it’s been very satisfying working out some of the more difficult fingerings for before slowly bringing them up to speed. In addition, I’ve been developing some ideas for a piano piece- a piece which I hope I will be able to eventually call my first piano sonata. I would like to eventually record myself playing each of these songs and post the recordings on this blog site. In the mean time, I’ve started learning how to use a free music notation software called MuseScore with which I’ve laid out the first bit of my sonata. Tomorrow I’ll designate what has, until this point, been my largely unused “Sketch” page as the place I’ll upload my creations/recordings to. Expect to see the first fragment of my sonata and the latest cut of the song I demo’d earlier on this blog.

Work Cited:

Botton, Alain De. The Art of Travel. New York: Pantheon, 2002. Print.