I thinck we need to consider the context a little:  what I might call
'vernacular' music typically assisted in work, combat or bonking (the
last two especially require raising testosterone, etc). Women (this is
historical, not PC!) might use something very different to sing their
children to sleep, or calm them if distressed, or to grieve over a
deceased relative. Music in the Royal Courts would naturally also tend
to focus on the more testosterone-oriented styles, but watered-down
somewhat in the name of 'good taste'. Not much work, strutting pompously
rather than fighting, and flirting rather than bonking.

In Western Art music (and many non-Western Art musics too), on the other
hand, mostly supported by the church, neither work nor combat, and
certainly nor bonking, were the object, but rather abstract intellectual
and spritual contemplation, all of which gradually degenerated (ho ho)
into romanticism. Not much need for a regular beat there! Then Freud
invented the unconscious and hysteria, and Pandora's box was opened, and
everyone has been mightily confused ever since. But working, fighting,
bonking  and even contemplation are still widespread activities.

So, each to their music, and each to their purpose in using it!


Richard Dobson

Michael Gogins wrote:
> 
> It is a historical fact that most genres of music in all cultures have an
> identifiable, fairly regular meter, sometimes changing over time. It is
> equally a historical fact that most genres of music in all cultures have
> "scales" of repeated pitch-classes, usually no more than about 12. Surely
> this means something. These facts are a very, very narrow selection from the
> possibilities.
> 

-- 
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