Quality art is quality art, regardless of whether you like it

Alida, a friend of Jen’s who was in our wedding party, is currently studying theatre at the California Institute of the Arts. She has an interesting perspective about how, despite her Christian faith and her desire to be involved in Christian theatre, she can support the efforts of quality art of all kinds, even while disagreeing with the content. I’m not much of a theatre person, but it got me thinking about how this relates to music.

Alida’s main point is that Christian theatre is fringe theatre and that to non-Christians, it’s no different than other fringe theatre, regardless of how in line the other works are with Christian morals. That doesn’t mean that it’s necessary to constantly subject yourself to material you find morally offensive, and there are, of course, preferences and limits to what an individual wants to take in (she points out violence as a good example), but there should at least be a recognition of the fact that regardless of personal taste, something can be well-written and well-produced – quality and personal taste are independent. Furthermore, you can synthesize the ideas from someone’s work and expand on them in your own work without also using their content: an idea from a work you vehemently disagree with could prove to be invaluable for your personal growth as an artist.

I’ve come across the same issues as a musician. I love hymns and I love some modern worship songs (the ones where the lyricist didn’t stop at one verse and a chorus, that have a solid Biblical foundation, and aren’t so shallow that by changing ‘Jesus’ to ‘my boyfriend’, you get a pop song), instrumental jazz, classical, and various forms of rock and pop. The last couple years though, where I’ve been intentionally exposing myself to all kinds of mainstream music, have taught me something important:

Good music isn’t bound by morals.

There’s definitely some good Christian music, but I’m not less of a Christian by listening to artists like Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, Stevie Wonder, or Dream Theatre, even though I don’t agree with every word they sing. Rather, my focus is always on where I can use the new musical tricks I’m learning, which right now, is exclusively in church. I’m inspired by artists in other genres without losing sight of where I play. I listen to learn.

The point is that as a musician and avid listener of music, I should have respect for good musicians, regardless of genre. Within reason, I’m open to good music period (though I have reasonably conservative tastes when it comes to lyrics – no gangster rap for me), and even if I completely disagree with the morals in someone’s work, that doesn’t make them a poor musician. It wouldn’t be fair to say that – they could say the same thing about me. I’m a fringe musician, in terms of the songs I play, though the analogy to Alida’s comments on theatre breaks down somewhat in the sense that even the most extreme songs are fairly mainstream for some subgenres. I don’t have to like everything I hear, but talent is talent.