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What is 'SOUL'....?

losthobos

losthobos

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I posted a gospel the other day and Walker described as soulful....left me pondering afterwards...
What is 'SOUL' and how does music become soulful.....
I considered wether it was our emotional response to certain chord voicings and progressions....
Or could any voicings be soulful dependant upon the player...
I imagine Bach would have been playing from his Soul back in the day but is classical music considered soulful....or is it too mathematically precise and meticulous to pass the test....
What about jaunty folk music...where does that fit into the equation...
Just ponderings but I'd be interested to hear perceptions no matter how simple, straight forward or profound..
Let's open the box and peek beyond the notes....😉🙏
 
For me “soul” is music with roots in Black churches. Music that makes you wanna clap your hands, move your body, or shout Amen! It’s like folk music in that there are nuances you can only pick up from listening to others steeped in the tradition, and just playing the right notes off the page doesn’t cut it!

It’s not like baroque music is devoid of emotion and life but the articulation and rhythms and ornamentation and chord voicing and dynamics and relationships with the tritone are very different.

I’d use “sacred music” to encompass Bach but not “soulful.”
 
If we can be receptive to and really seek the essence in music, and put aside all the technical matters, systems and genre biases, then we have a chance to glimpse, even just for a moment, something that is close to the divine. With the right tune at the right time, played by musicians truly at one with their music, we can be elevated beyond everyday hardships to share a fleeting sense of something moving and truly beautiful.

This 'gift' is not limited to any style of music or instrument. It can be found in everything from baroque or choral music through to tango and beyond. The soulful essence is there, even in a simple slow air played on fiddle and musette accordion. It is for us to recognise it...

The Gentle Light That Wakes Me, Aly Bain & Phil Cunningham:​

 
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saundersbp said:
This is the most soulful music I know.

Click to expand...


Just imagine walking into a cathedral in an English town, say 500 years ago... you're broke, hungry and with a cough that's not getting better... and yet upon hearing the choir sing THAT music for the first time, all your pains fade away. In that moment you are stunned and you pinch yourself and whisper - "am I in paradise?"
 
Walker said:
If we can be receptive to and really seek the essence in music, and put aside all the technical matters, systems and genre biases, then we have a chance to glimpse, even just for a moment, something that is close to the divine.
Click to expand...
Well darn it, that’s a beautiful sentiment I agree with and now there’s no room for pedantry.😇

Henceforth “Soulful” means music played with real feeling and expression. “Soul” is the spark of the divine that can be glimpsed through music. Since you’re not using “transcendent”, losthobos can reclaim it for use when talking about the ineffable qualities of Hammond organ playing associated with styles of music I will now call “baroque”. 😉

Okay I lied about the pedantry.
 
OK, gotta go with some pedantry here, ha ha!

IMHO, there is music with soul, soul-stirring music as has been described above. And then there is Soul, which is a genre of African-American music. It doesn't mean that people of other cultures can't play it, but that's where it originated. It's similar to Gospel, which took music from the Church of England (and others), where it wasn't called Gospel but rather Sacred Music, and re-imagined it through a particular cultural lens where it became Gospel.

I could play some Soul music, but as an Anglo I couldn't write Soul music.
 
dan said:
Well darn it, that’s a beautiful sentiment I agree with and now there’s no room for pedantry.😇

Henceforth “Soulful” means music played with real feeling and expression. “Soul” is the spark of the divine that can be glimpsed through music. Since you’re not using “transcendent”, losthobos can reclaim it for use when talking about the ineffable qualities of Hammond organ playing associated with styles of music I will now call “baroque”. 😉

Okay I lied about the pedantry.
Click to expand...
@dan, wonderful humour! :ROFLMAO:

Also your point and @bluke's about the African-American styles of music and culture associated with "Soul" is noted!

So, sure expressive music can stir the emotions and could fairly be describes as 'soulful'. I would probably add the various calming influences to be very precious - like walking in the dawn light with no sound except the rustling leaves or bird song. These things, and also music can help bring tranquillity in a world that is anything but tranquil. Could these things be soulful? I don't know, but I think they might be.

I repect dan, that you would consider Bach and related music to be possibly sacred "but not soulful".

I find that I "connect" with a lot of Bach's music, particularly music like the Aria (Goldberg Variations) or maybe even the Adagio (BWV 974).



I think this music is really quite nice, the 'beat' of the music is relaxed like a calm heartbeat. The slight agitation of the melody, is just enough to be 'stirring' like a breeze.

Oh well, I'm off to work now. Calmness over. 😄
 
Not a response to any single post/poster:
I do like it here!
This forum must be the most intriguing, challenging and accepting place on the internet.

Just a reminder:
The bedrock of this is ... Knobby, who sits quietly but attentively in the shadows (!)
We should remember that without him this forum could easily have disappeared - and that would have been down to somebody's inability to accept difference.
 
losthobos said:
Or could any voicings be soulful dependant upon the player...
Click to expand...
i would say so

there was this Spanish singer recently, she did a spontaneous song in the native language accompanied by rythm guitar, classical style - could have been called soulful because of her silk voice, but it leaned more towards folklore - then there is this one box player sitting in, and he plays exactly one note here and there against her voice, I have no recording of the moment but THAT was SOULFUL
 
Sweet....
Walker that piece is lovely...I had considered the Scottish airs... I'll file under 'hauntingly ethereal'
Ben's choice is huge.... I'll file under 'Divine'..
Along with Dan's observation I'm now going to consider
SOUL is dirty sacred....
And Yes dunlustin the archangel knobby has saved me from hellfire and damnation several times... hallelujah
 
I'm not really sure ...hence this thread after you'd described my playing as such....
Perhaps 'honesty' would be a term that comes to mind....and could therefore cover all styles, genres and instruments...
As an example away from sacred or gospel I'd say Chet Baker played with great honesty and had a soulful tone...
 
dunlustin said:
"and he plays exactly one note here and there " I think 'less is more' can be part of soul.
(Can't imagine bebop being soul?)
Is it also a glimpse of loss, grief and pain?
Maybe not many would agree but I have known this song for 50 years. It came back as I tried to think about 'soul.'
We are no longer used to extended listening to a simple melody unadorned but it still grips me:

Click to expand...

this is the stuff I'm talking about

a couple of recent chance encounters pushed me in this direction with my projects
 
bluke said:
OK, gotta go with some pedantry here, ha ha!

IMHO, there is music with soul, soul-stirring music as has been described above. And then there is Soul, which is a genre of African-American music.
Click to expand...
Spot-on. Any type of music can be played soulfully. But there is a specific type of music that is called "soul" music. Typically soul (the genre) is played with soul (the feeling), but apparently it's not a requirement. :-)

Examples? Sure!
 
I've loved this thread and appreciate everyone's contributions..even those that have been deleted 😉
What has also greatly amused me is that the island dwellers here have dived straight into the profound/metaphysical interpretations whilst our brothers across the pond have remained totally literal and factual in their responses...
No offence intended.. everybody welcome...just an amusing observation..
 
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