Coordinator: Dan Zambas

Firstly I want to say thank you – I have had the incredibly fortunate pleasure of watching Ragged grow from the very start. Its simple philosophy really struck a chord with me, something so obvious but equally necessary – “What do you love? What do you want to know? What do you want to be?” and most importantly “Did you know this existed?”. These are the questions that we do not ask our children in our current education system, and this ideal has been born out of the very absence of this question. For that, Alex, thank you.

I’m a parent to two wonderful little girls, little bright sparks whose existence helped inspire Alex to begin his journey with Ragged. My family are the reason I do what I do, like so many of us, and the support in my own musical journey… well words just want say quite enough what that means to me.

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Harmonisation: A Theory by Dan Zambas

I am outraged, apathetic, empowered, disenfranchised, cynical and optimistic. I am all of these things, contradictory feelings that are equal outcomes to a mindset that I doubt I experience alone; A product of the modern era and the human condition.

In my youth I believed that we were heading to a period of enlightenment, the information era. An era where at our fingertips we had access to the most beautiful theory and experience that humanity could possibly offer. That the pure infection of its positivity would overwhelm previously negative constructs and push us towards a direction that would see an end to the ‘evils’ in the world. Read more…

Popular Music by Dan Zambas

Popular Music is easily definable as music that is popular. Although this category is generally saved for music that hits the Top 40 charts of its time, it can apply to any genre with a following. Society understands this term as chart music and may be met with some confusion when the claim ‘jazz is popular music’ is made. Musicologist Philip Tagg defined popular music with the following statement:

‘Popular music, unlike art music, is conceived for mass distribution to large and often socioculturally heterogeneous groups of listeners, stored and distributed in non-written form, only possible in an industrial monetary economy where it becomes a commodity and in capitalist societies, subject to the laws of ‘free’ enterprise, according to which it should ideally sell as much as possible of as little as possible to as many as possible’

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Popular Culture and Music by Dan Zambas

The word ‘culture’ holds a variety of meanings within the English language. Depending on its context, the word can be applied to the arts, fashion, sociological studies and nationalism. This makes the interpretation of Popular Culture an abstract term that cannot be defined easily.
For the purposes of this supplement the context in which popular culture will be used will be in a sociological format. Read more…

What is Music? by Dan Zambas

The word music comes from the Greek word mousikê (tekhnê) linked directly with the Latin word Musica.

According to the Wikipedia article ‘Definition of Music’ this derives from the Greek word ‘Muse’, from the daughters of the gods Zeus and Hera. From this link it can be assumed that the root for the word music is ‘Inspiration’. This would ring true with most musicians as without inspiration where is the drive to be a musician?  The following quotes have been extracted from the documentary ‘Music’ by Andrew Zuckerman:

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Education of Music by Dan Zambas

The education of music is traditionally taught in notated form. Following the teachings from historical composers and musicians, educators seek to pass on this knowledge to students to inspire them. In the past twenty years we have seen a development of the traditional teachings into popular music. This has led to specific issues regarding the relevance of musical notation and how it applies to modern music.
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Philosophy and Music by Dan Zambas

Ancient philosophers such as Aristotle and Plato recognised the unity between music and philosophy.

The artistic expression of a piece of music could be described as philosophy using sound. Instrumental Classical music can be a very profound experience and the content of the music can be incredibly descriptive. Instruments playing characters, melodic themes reproduced in a variety of ways during the course of the piece, these are left to the audience’s imagination. This can provide the listener with a wide range of conclusions; from purely enjoying the music, to a deeper understanding of themselves. Read more…