WHat is Music?

1. A complex amalgam of melody, harmony, rhythm, timbre and silence in a particular (intended) structure (Hanslick)? A sonoric event between noise and silence (Attali)? A ‘total social fact’ (Molino)? Something in which truth has set itself to work (Heidegger)? It is In the first place a word. As a word, it has meaning. As a word, it gives meaning. Take sounds for example: this sound is music. Which actually conveys: ‘we’ consider this sound as music. Music – as word – frames, delimits, opens up, encloses. To call (‘consecrate’ as Pierre Bourdieu would say) something music is a political decision-making process. As a grammatical concept, ‘music’ is useful: using this concept, we differentiate between various sounds. We divide, classify, categorize, name, delimit: not every sound is music. Although, since Cage, no single sound is by definition banned from the musical domain. The word ‘music’ brings (necessary) structure and order into the (audible) world. But, there is also an other music; there is a ‘musical dimension’ that is much more difficult to capture in words. This dimension might be indicated as ‘the sensual’, something which can and should (at least according to Søren Kierkegaard) only be expressed in its immediacy. This immediate – perhaps one could also speak of ‘the physical’ – is erased at the moment when it, through reflection, would be conceptualized; it is by definition indefinable and therefore unreachable by means of language. There is thus something in music which can only be expressed through or as music. The moment that language tries to pinpoint this something, it dissolves and is lost. So, is it possible at all to define – that is: to incorporate into a linguistic category – music? WHat is Music?

2. Origin of Music: • The study of the origins and purpose of music has been an active pursuit of musicologists and biologists for well over a century. Musicology, the loosely applied and broadly used term for the scholarly study of music, has evolved over the last 70 years to produce several new subfields of study. In 1991, a Swedish biologist named Nils L. Wallin, coined the term Biomusicology, and the school of science that deals with the study of music from a biological point of view was born. The three main branches of Biomusicology are evolutionary musicology, neuromusicology, and comparative musicology. The subfield of Evolutionary Musicology contains the study of musical origins, and significant strides have been made in recent decades under this new field of study. • Darwin's theories of musical origin rested in his observations of the gibbon-apes use of musical cadence as a part of the mating ritual to attract the opposite sex. Darwin concluded that early man, therefore, must have first used music for the same purpose. • Edward MacDowell, internationally-trained composer, author, and the Chair of Music at Columbia University, considered Darwin's theory as "inadequate and untenable". In a speech given at Columbia, later published in 1912, MacDowell found more plausibility in the theory of Theophrastus, the successor of Aristotle, in which the origin of music is attributed to the whole range of human emotion. • In 1948, the German musicologist, Curt Sachs, declared that all mythological, scientific, and historical attempts to discover the origins of music are all wrong! He blasted the many theories then presented on a more or less scientific basis, which Sachs referred to as "speculative hypothesis" - the theories that "man has imitated the warbling of birds, the he wanted to please the opposite sex, that his singing derived from drawn-out signaling shouts, [and] that he arrived at music via some coordinated, rhythmical teamwork". If these theories were true, he asserts, "some of the most primitive survivors of early mankind would have preserved a warbling style of song, or love songs, or signal-like melodies". Science, Sachs admits, would prefer "the more substantial, indeed irrefutable proofs of prehistorians, who excavate the tombs and dwelling places of races bygone. But not even the earliest civilizations that have left their traces in the depths of the earth are old enough to betray the secret of the origins of music." While the archeological views of Sachs may ultimately prove true, the quest to unearth the origins of music continues. • In 1995, Ivan Turk, a researcher at the Divje Babe archeological site in Slovenia, uncovered a flute, pierced by spaced holes, made from the femur bone of a young cave bear. Similar prehistoric bone flutes have been found at various sites around the world, but the Divje Babe bone flute, or Neanderthal Flute, as called by Turk, is approximately 43,100 years old, and is claimed to be the world's oldest musical instrument. • its been made by everyone dating back further then the cavemen. it wasnt actually a discovery.

3. Different types of Music Classical Music Rock Music • The music of the old days. The kind of music that most of us have forgotten, yet listen to everyday. Because most of what we hear now is derived from what the great classical composers created decades and centuries ago. We may think of classical music as what orchestras play in a giant auditorium, wearing black clothes, with a conductor frantically waving his staff about. That's a very base description of something that the composers dedicated their lives to. • The origins of rock 'n' roll are as foggy as the genre is popular. What I can offer you is this: the term was coined in 1955 by Alan Freed, a disc jockey from Ohio. The oldest form of rock 'n' roll (1950s) was a mixture of R&B, country and rockabilly (it was just called hillbilly music back then), only it was faster, louder and 'dangerous'. The man at the forefront of this genre was (and still is) Elvis Presley, followed by personalities like Chuck Berry and Little Richard. The rock scene in the 50s was more about shock value, which included fashion statements, sexually-oriented lyrics and dance moves catering to a young audience in particular.

4. Country Music Blues • Country music is a genre of American popular music that originated in the rural regions of the Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from the southeastern genre of American folk music and Western music. • Linguistically, Jazz is defined as a style of music, an American culture and distinguished by flexible rhythmic tempo, as a base accompanied with improvisation of solo and ensemble on basic tunes and chord patterns. 

5. IMPORTANCE OF MUSIC IN OUR LIFE Music is the Language of the Universe: Music is the Key to Creativity • .. You’ve heard this time and time again, but what does it mean exactly? Music is universal in that there are no boundaries to understanding music. Even animals like Birds, Dogs, and Whales can understand music to a certain degree. • It transcends all boundaries of communication because you can speak and tell stories to someone on the other side of the planet, even though you both don’t speak the same language. But I believe its important for one to have an open mind in order to be in touch with that sense of understanding. • Many people immediately push away certain styles of music without having explored what it has to offer. Not all styles will appeal or resonate with a person, but one may discover a new part of ones self when you are open to all the possibilities. • .Music fuels the mind and thus fuels our creativity. A Creative mind has the ability to make discoveries and create innovations. The greatest minds and thinkers like Albert Einstein, Mozart, and Frank Lloyd Wright all had something in common in that they were constantly exploring their imagination and creativity. • Listening to instrumental music challenges one to listen and tell a story about what one hears. In the same sense, playing a musical instrument gives you the ability to tell the story without words. Both require maximum right brain usage which not only exercises ones creativity but also ones intellect. • The strength of all the Arts including writing, painting, dance, and theater have the ability to create a similar effect.

6. Music has Spiritual Powers: Music can Create a Mood and make you feel Emotion: • No one really knows where Music came from but there are many theories that suggest music predates the existence of Mankind. One of the most commonly known uses for music was religious and sacred tribal events. In Mayan civilization music was used in celebration of a victory at war and even at the burial of influential figures. • Some of the earliest recorded moments in Music took place in the Medieval times with choral pieces for church prayers. Much emphasis was placed in the organization and use of specific harmonies to create moods that would illicit a spiritual experience. • Even today, many people claim that music is the key to God and to a holy, more fulfilling life through the Church. • ..Music can whisk you away on an extended journey. Music can make time feel frozen. Music also has the power to suggest movement. All these things deal with the human senses. • I’m sure you can remember a moment where a song has made you particularly sad or very excited and happy. But how does organized tones create such an effect on our senses? No one really knows why or where it comes from but there are many studies that have been done to show that there is an agreement of which emotions pertain to certain scales, chords, and harmonies. • Read this amazing Wiki on Music and Emotion. Part of what inspired me to play piano when I was in college was that I became obsessed with how certain Jazz musicians were able to convey sadness and a state of melancholy through this one piece: Blue in Green. Think about what would driving be like without music or entering into a fancy restaurant?

7. Music Can Connect People: Music makes Education more enjoyable: • What is amazing about music is that it is imbedded within all of us. Everyone can understand it and feel something if they open themselves up. Playing music with other musicians is an incredible feeling. Some people describe it as rowing down a river together. • There is a certain type of connection that comes when you make music in a group. The same is true for those who are listening to music in a group and interacting with music through Dance. This type of behavior is rooted in our history and our discoveries as human beings. • I’ve had many experiences where a random person would ask to play with me and within an instant we were having a dialogue via the piano or guitar. Its a level of playing around, communicating, and copying each other that creates the connection. Many of those moments have been some of the most rewarding experiences of my life. • Music can be very engaging in the classroom and is a great tool for memorization. I’m sure if more teachers used  song to teach the multiplication tables, kids would retain that information much quicker. • My spanish teacher in 10th grade used a song to teach us the past tense endings and even today, I havent forgotten the song. It’s as if she imbedded it in my mind and now I will never forget it. • Besides the obvious, Music teaches us self discipline and time management skills that you cannot get anywhere else. When you study an instrument on a regular basis you work on concrete ideas and take small steps to achieve larger goals. This way of thinking organizes the wiring in your brain to start looking at Learning in a new light. • In raising children, Music education can be used to keep kids focused and keep them off the streets. Instead of running around and causing mischief, your child may be practicing piano or rehearsing music with friends. • Unfortunately, some forms of music can influence children in negative ways. It is well known that music has a power to influence the way we dress, think, speak, and live our lives. Profane and violent lyrics can have a negative influence on children. • Looking back at my High School days, I notice that I followed the herd when it came to listening to Hip-hop and doing things that were “cool” to look tough and be like the “Gangsta” image that was portrayed. When I got to college, I realized how much it pervaded my lifestyle and when I got into Jazz, my entire lifestyle began to change.