The meaning of a piece of music is something lots of people enjoy discussing and/or debating. As humans I think we all naturally search for meaning in things and creative works are no different. It is especially so in art that we try to find a way to understand something and come to some kind of conclusion about it even if it is just that we like it or we don’t. Our brains are constantly making sense of the world around us to shape how we perceive everything. So, it doesn’t surprise me to often see folks discussing the meaning of a piece of art like music and what the intended outcome the artist was going for.

With music I have most commonly seen this type of debate around meaning when it comes to lyrics. It may be around particular word choices or the double meaning of something or how a certain word was used as slang at the time of writing so it has a certain meaning. It’s the most likely place I have seen folks go when discussing the intention of the music and what it is trying to convey.

But, I think the same thing can be done with instrumental music. There may not be as specific of a thing to point to like a lyric, but there is still meaning to decipher in the work. For me this is often in the meaning and intention behind the whole musical piece. Maybe a particular compositional approach implies a frenetic feeling or a sluggish one. Perhaps the drone of a synth that pulses slowly inspires calm or peaceful reflection.

The specificity may not be there, but there is still meaning to find. It may not have details of a set of circumstances, but it can still share the feeling of going through them. In some ways it might even be a more direct communication. Since there are no words we have to rely on how we feel to know if the music has meaning to us in any particular way. This ends up connecting us to the artist in an emotional way which can be incredible in its impact.

With any music performance I’ve gone to there has been a point where the meaning of a piece of music was discussed by the artist either before or after the performance. It’s a way for them to connect on a deeper level with the people watching and they also get a chance to take a small break to catch their breath or tune a guitar or whatever. At performances for instrumental music I find this happens more often in my experience, especially if the piece being performed is a longer one or if the artist doesn’t intend to speak to the audience again during the performance. This kind of scene setting for an instrumental piece is really interesting and powerful to me. Firstly, it is great to hear an artist tell in their own words directly how they intend the art to be perceived. Secondly, it is then really rewarding to listen and take in the work with that context and see how I connect to it or not.

Experimental music can often be instrumental and at performances for this type of music the presentation is often preceded with an explanation. I love this and find it a really satisfying way to connect with the piece of music and with the artist. It reminds me of reading liner notes while I listened to albums as a kid and how I poured over everything in them to discover as many details as I could. Having someone talk about the meaning of the music to them prior to a performance feels like the most intimate version of that.