Many People Don’t Really Understand What Music Is

A recent interview with Han Hong attracted widespread online mockery
after she said that, despite never receiving formal training on many
instruments, she could often pick one up and play it.

I believe the real misunderstanding is not about Han Hong, but about
music itself.

Being able to pick up an instrument is not the same as mastering it.
Musical intuition and instrumental technique are different things. What
Han Hong described is an ability to quickly connect what is heard
internally with the sounds produced by an instrument.

My own experience has made this easier for me to understand. Although I
received about two years of formal vocal training in primary school, I
never received formal training on musical instruments. I explored the
flute, harmonica, guitar, keyboard, violin, accordion, trumpet and erhu
at different stages of my life. I never mastered any of them, nor do I
suggest that teachers are unnecessary. Good instruction would certainly
have made a significant difference.

What surprised me only later was that I had assumed everyone naturally
formed a clear internal image of music and could connect that image with
an instrument. Eventually I realised that this is not how everyone
experiences music.

Over the years I have also met people with remarkable musical intuition.
Some had little formal training and some could not even read music, yet
they were able to compose by playing, recording and refining what they
heard in their minds.

One friend began learning piano only in her thirties and now plays
beautifully. She travels around Australia’s east coast in a campervan
with a digital piano and especially enjoys playing beside the ocean. She
once sent me a photo of herself playing piano on the beach. Watching
that made me realise that music had become not just something she played,
but a way of experiencing the world.

Music and literature also differ in important ways. Literature reaches
us mainly through language and ideas, while music often reaches us
directly through perception and emotion. We may dislike a writer and
struggle to enjoy the writing. By contrast, we can dislike a musician’s
personality and still genuinely love the music.

I also have the impression that many listeners, especially in Chinese
popular music, are moved first by lyrics rather than by the music
itself. There is nothing wrong with that. Lyrics are an important part
of a song. But lyrics belong to language, while music has its own
independent artistic value.

Perhaps this also explains why karaoke has remained so popular for
decades. Much of its appeal comes from the emotional connection between
lyrics and personal experience. Those who focus more on music itself
tend to pay greater attention to melody, harmony, rhythm, tone and
musical structure.

For me, the real question raised by Han Hong’s interview is not whether
she exaggerated. It is whether we have truly understood what music is.