Glad to read this. However, I wish I've more Gregorian chants so I could replace the modern ones.

 
Here is a quick summary of what the Venari said. I remember summarizing it for a friend.

- The music itself (not just the lyrics) has an effect on the soul. The ancients (e.g., Confucius, Plato, Aristotle, etc.) all agreed on this: persistent listening to a certain form of music disposes one's soul to virtue or vice.

- There are three possible constituents of music: 1) melody, 2) harmony, and 3) rhythm.

- Each constituent of music stimulates a certain faculty of the human person: 1) melody - intellect, 2) harmony - emotion, and 3) rhythm - passion.    Various examples are given to demonstrate this.

- Just as the human person's faculties have a hierarchical order, so must good (i.e., virtuous) music have order.

- The human person's intellect is ordered to a primacy: governance.  The emotional appetite of the human person must be guided by reason (the intellect).  Likewise, and even more importantly, the passionate appetite must be subordinated to reason (the intellect).  Ana logously, good and virtuous music ought to be primarily "governed" by melody (intellect), maybe enhanced by harmony (emotion), and only supported by rhythm (passion).

- Bad music is inversely ordered (i.e., primarily rooted in rhythm and a de-emphasized melody).  Examples are heavy metal, rap, techno, etc.

Who knows. I guess that's why music is a great mechanism for social subversion. Nobody really know what the goal is except musical geniuses and social engineers. How where the beatles used to subvert society? For one they started out dressed in their litlle suits and singing cute little love songs. No parents saw them as a threat. Once they got all the kids hooked, they came out with beards and long hair and code messages about drugs (LSD Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds) and the old folks just didn't know what was going on.

But try to warn someone. And it will be "Oh don't tell me your afraid of the Beatles!"

That's why I like Venari's lecture because it gave really objective qualities that good music has.

Dearest Clare,

Simply substitute 'Night on Bare Mountain' for Mussorsky's much finer

'Pictures at an Exhibition' and you will get approx. 5X the drama and thrills, all the while pondering pre-Revolutionary Russian Icons.

xxxooo

I have never heard of John Todd, but apparently there are quite a few people the hold him in rather low regard.

Wikipedia-not always a reliable source

There is no doubt that quite a few of the lyrics of rock music are horrible. Also the artists involved are reprehensible and often delved into satanic lore. Certainly not people you want your children subjected to, or good intellectual fodder for anyone.

These things being said, I find myself a bit dubious of  Vennari's statement that there is something in the beat of the music that makes it evil.  Well, possibly, but I'd like to see some more explanation on why this would be true.

Quote from: Thursday

Who knows. I guess that's why music is a great mechanism for social subversion. Nobody really know what the goal is except musical geniuses and social engineers. How where the beatles used to subvert society? For one they started out dressed in their litlle suits and singing cute little love songs. No parents saw them as a threat. Once they got all the kids hooked, they came out with beards and long hair and code messages about drugs (LSD Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds) and the old folks just didn't know what was going on.

But try to warn someone. And it will be "Oh don't tell me your afraid of the Beatles!"

That's why I like Venari's lecture because it gave really objective qualities that good music has.

There was no plan for the Beatles to get fans hooked on their early 'cute' music and then bring in the hippy stuff.

Lennon talked about it in his last interview, published in paperback by playboy.  Lennon wasn't aware of this while it was happening, apparently marshall Macluhan clued him in in 1969 when they met in tORONTO.

I've listened to that fellow before. Note that he also thinks that Catholic priests are practicing witchcraft. It's been a while since I've listened to him so I'm not sure which audio it was where he said the stuff about Catholicism. I certainly think he had a lot of things right though. Plus if you look what happened to him later, thrown in jail on trumped charges and never heard from again, makes what he says a lot more believable.

 John Venari had a very good presentation about rock music that was more scholarly and, if you were trying to convince someone to chuck out their cds, would be a lot more appropriate than John  Dodd's lectures.

I've stopped any rock music in my house, the odd time I'll listen to a song or two but have switched to Gregorian and kids music. Stopping listening to rock music really helped me to stop
going out at night. If I listened to it in the morning before (like I did for years) work i'd have a really hard time staying in at night.  I think it was Vaneri who asked "How can grace enter your soul if you've already filled it up with garbage?"

Oh yes, I know of his other lectures, and they're full of misinformation regarding the Catholic Church, which is why I only posted this since it has nothing Anti-Catholic in it, and what he says seems credible. There's another series worth watching that says essentially the exact thing he was saying 30 some years ago.

http://www.theindustryexposed.com