Joel the Musician

To define the character traits of a musician is to limit and even endanger the creative individuality of the human spirit that creates, interprets, and expresses the many facets of what music means, and the emotion surrounding the creation and enjoyment of sound. But, indeed, and rather strangely, there are some general characteristics often found in many musicians, such as emotionalism, spontaneity, complexity, that are not displayed by our son Joel who loves music as much as anyone.

Most musicians, performers, composers, appreciators, scholars, have an element of creativity and expression that require emotional demonstration in some form or another. According to Aristotle, music helps purify and organize unwanted emotions by reaching into the brain and beyond and into the soul of the human, and then clarifying and sometimes systematizing those feelings that are difficult to put into words. Music, and the arts in general, allow for expression of emotions which in turn purify or provide catharsis for the human spirit.

Joel may not have all the typical characteristics of autism, incidentally, in fact, very few autistic children have absolutely all the qualities that traditionally define autism, but he does have two distinguishable traits often found in children with his disability. Joel displays a marked lack of emotional personal creativity, and connected to this is an unusual objective expression of truth without emotional coloring. This enchanting and unusual quality requires him always to tell the truth in all situations without any additional human interpretation or supplementation of the situation. Joel seeks after joy, goodness, and light in all things and in all people without an awareness of any darkness that may exist in the world or any kind of hidden agenda. He finds the good in everyone and everything.

Because music demands emotional expression, it becomes a difficult but not impossible medium for Joel to understand and to apply. And yet, music is very meaningful to Joel in many ways despite the fact that he is unable to sing. His two favorite styles of music are the hymn and the march, both of which are organized, clean styles of music without the romantic, emotional excesses found in other genres. A majority of hymns are in 4 to 8 measure phrases with a repeated chorus, in a balanced poetic meter, with emphasis on the text, and mostly a singable tuneful melody. Similarly, a march with an introduction, first strain repeated, second strain repeated, trio, break strain, repeat trio, maintains a sense of balance, tonality, rhythmic energy, and melodic tunefulness. Both genres are organized, obvious, clean, enjoyable, uncomplicated, and musically pure.

Joel's inability to pass negative judgment prevents him from criticizing other types of music such as jazz, country western, rock, or atonality, but he does display marked appreciation and emotional response to hymns and marches. He furthermore loves hearing the organ playing almost anything. Psychologically, Joel seems to desire a consonant, dissonant free existence without the edginess and discomfort that are often a part of the ups and downs of normal living. An extension of this desire is the smooth, non-percussiveness of the organ playing hymns and the light enjoyable quality of marches.

Harmonically, most marches and most hymns are in a major key, giving them a buoyancy and unbounded optimism that easily match Joel's world-view and desire for a harmonious existence. Since most people tend to respond and appreciate music that matches their own philosophy, personality, and value system, it is easy to understand how hymns and marches played on the organ are a manifestation of Joel's own charm, warmth, and positive outlook on life. In Joel's world, the more hymns and marches heard, the better off we are! Maybe he has something there.