Why I Play Video Game Music

I am continuing to follow a musical path which I had no intention to do in the first place. At the age of 17 my friend Luigi and I submitted to Ebaum's World and Gprime.net a Super Mario Medley. The medley was made for fun. By the way, in the first piece I am wearing a blindfold. The reason for wearing a blindfold was that In my high school talent show I played Beethoven Piano Sonata Op. 10 No. 2 in F Major - Presto blindfolded. The performance was very successful, so I thought I might as well try playing a Super Mario piece blindfolded as well.

Again, as a classically-trained musician, I made for fun the Super Mario Medley.

Most importantly, I'd like to point out that I don't play video game music for attention, fame, money, etc. It's not a gimmick that I conciously planned in my career. I don't play video game music because I consciously want to be different from other classical musicians, nor do I play video game music just because it's a cool and popular thing to do these days. (For more information, there are Social Blade statistics for every YouTube channel.)

One of the reasons why I play video game music is that video game music is one of the last bastions of mostly uncommercialized music that does not have a definable genre. Video game music is the genre of no genre. Also, there is the sound of no sound, like in the music of "Pong."

There is unlimited expression of video game music. There is such a wide variety of music that the term "video game music" does not illicit a certain mental image or certain sound, unlike the terms jazz, hip-hop, classical all have a certain mental image and possibly some listener expectations. Video game music is in fact a combination of many different styles of music from all over the world. There can be techno beats in one video game music, classical music textures in another piece, washes of sound, and much, much more.

I've read David Newcomb's "The Fundamentals of the Video Game Music Genre," and I do not agree with the approach. To me video game music cannot be a conscious genre. Putting video game music into a genre would put video game music on the other pedestals of jazz, techno, classical music, etc. It's precisely the "genre of no genre" that I mentioned before that makes video game music so special and unique. For me personally, it's clear that video game music is not meant to be mainstream.

In contrast to classical music, video game music is not bound to tradition or rules. Video game music is a non-rejection rejection of the classical music tradition. Sync the sounds of a mentronome to Koji Kondo's Super Mario Bros. Overworld Theme, and music will slowly shift out of phase with the metronome. In other words, the tempo shifts slightly over the course of the music. It's not exactly quarter note equals 99. Perhaps the classical music 4/4 time or common time signature was not deemed a top musical priority from the composer. Instead, the change of tempo could reflect Mario's changing emotions. The third section does sound more optimistic with the triplets that slightly speed up.

My piano playing has definitely changed for the better as a result of me playing video game music. After shedding off unnecessary ways as a sculptur would get rid of marble to create a statue, I've opted for a more simpler and economical approach to playing. Transcribing music and other ear training has also helped my playing. Playing the piano as if not playing the piano and not playing the piano as if playing the piano can be done!

Video game music and playing video game music has the approach of no approach.

These are some of my thoughts on why I play video game music and on video game music itself. Feel free to leave comments!