I know I promised last week to write about music and science, and I'll get there. But first, what, exactly, is music?
Dictionary.com defines music as the following:
"–noun
| 1. | an art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color. |
| 2. | the tones or sounds employed, occurring in single line (melody) or multiple lines (harmony), and sounded or to be sounded by one or more voices or instruments, or both. |
| 3. | musical work or compositions for singing or playing. |
| 4. | the written or printed score of a musical composition. |
| 5. | such scores collectively. |
| 6. | any sweet, pleasing, or harmonious sounds or sound: the music of the waves. |
| 7. | appreciation of or responsiveness to musical sounds or harmonies: Music was in his very soul. |
| 8. | Fox Hunting. the cry of the hounds. |
—Idiom
| 9. | face the music, to meet, take, or accept the consequences of one's mistakes, actions, etc.: He's squandered his money and now he's got to face the music. |
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/music"
It's quite the definition. Put more simply, music is a series of pitches played at specific frequencies in a given order. Sometimes music is improvised, and other times it is written on paper and worked on for years. The Requiem Mass and the Mass in C minor, both written by W.A. Mozart, are just two of the many pieces of music that remain unfinished to this day. And yet, some of those unfinished pieces are looked upon by many as the composer's greatest work. It's almost as if they saved the best piece for last.
Music is one of the most transcendental forms of art. Artists today are playing and singing music that was written centuries ago along with pieces that could have been written yesterday. Music is a form of expression that doesn't require words. Harsh sounding chords really are meant to portray a more negative emotion than the "nice" sounding chords. It's difficult to lose the meaning of the piece, especially when there is no text. Music is a vulnerable art -- honest. And for that reason alone, it is quite worthy of being carried on for generations.
Dear
Dear Slewis,
I just read your article "Musica" and i really like it. I like the idea of you putting the definitions and explaining how you feel about music. But I think music is more than just what you said it was.
One sentence you said that stood out for me was: Put more simply, music is a series of pitches played at specific frequencies in a given order. This stood out for me because music is way more then different pitches being played at different times. Maybe the word "song" can be used in that specific defenition. And no, song and music are not the same. I put it this way, music is a type of art, like dance, drawing and even food. People who really enjoy art can give you a better defenition of what type of art they like. The reason why i say that is because they spend most of their life listening to music, drawing, dancing or cooking and as time progress they learn a little bit more about it and the meaning is just more than what you read in the dictionary.
I will like to hear more from you, I think you have O.K points but, if you should reply back about what you think about this comment.
i think the definition of
i think the definition of music varys by the person. There is no one definition as is there is no one feeling. If there is a definition on music i would say it is what the listener at the time makes of it.
Response to Music
Dear slewis,
I really enjoyed reading your article "Musica”, I liked this article because it had a strong sense of meaning to what you were talking about. I like the definitions of the word Music, because they are with Music is all about. I also like this article because, although I don’t sing, or play any instruments, the sound of music is what keeps me going every day. I go to school listening mi iPod, and I head on trips with my iPod, I walk home after school so I can take longer, and I could listen and enjoy music some more. I really was interested into seeing what music meant to somebody else, and what music means to people in general.
One sentence I liked from the article is "Music is the most transcendental form of art." I like this sentence because I agree that sometimes when you think about it, it looks like Music only exists in this world we live in. In outer space there is only silence, and darkness, and all over the universe there is silence and darkness. The only way music or any kind of sound that portrays music gets there is by use, we have the gift to share this to the whole universe.
One sentence I don’t agree to is "music is a series of pitches played at specific frequencies in a given order" I don’t agree with this because, sometimes things that don’t seem like specific order or sounds, or anything to us, may seem like music to somebody or something else. I think Music is what makes our faces joy up, and makes us want to continue to listen to the song until you can’t any longer. Also I think that this would mean that music is not one of arts most transcendental for of art, because then there would be nothing mystical about it, it would just be a procedure played over and over again.
I liked reading your article and it made me really think and want to experience, and do more in music than before. Thanks for sharing your article. I would definitely want to see what else you would write about this and other topics.