“Music is generally perceived as the most universal of all art forms. ”The literal meaning of the word ‘music’ according to any dictionary is: ‘art of combining vocal or instrumental sounds in a harmonious or expressive way. ‘ But music has a meaning which is far broader than this. Music is life.
Music means Self-expansion and oneness. It is an art by itself. Art, in any of its forms, is generated by a person, or a group of talented yet usually ordinary people, that express, willingly or not, an opinion regarding present times. It is not a want; it is a need. If you try to imagine yourself without it, you are bound to feel incomplete. For many of us, it has become a necessity of our lives.
Music has no boundaries. Music is the expansion of unlimited reality. Everyone has the liberty to express themselves in which ever way they prefer, through music. It is the most universal of all art forms. And we get to confront it on a daily basis.
Music may also involve generative forms in time through the construction of patterns and combinations of natural stimuli, principally sound. Music may be used for artistic or ‘aesthetic’, communicative, entertainment, ceremonial or religious purposes and by many composers of music, purely as an academic instrument of study. Music is an art form consisting of sound and silence. Elements of sound in music are pitch, melody, harmony, rhythm, scale, notes e. t. c.
We can use music to help us in our spiritual life. Music helps the spiritual seeker to go deep within to get the utmost satisfaction from life, from truth, from reality. The spiritual life, in turn, helps music to offer its capacity and its strength, which is the soul’s light, to the world at large. Music helps people speak out their feelings in the most convenient way possible. It reaches your heart and soul and brings out your emotions in open in the most appropriate lyrical style. I, myself listen to fast tracks that have high pitch and scale along with a fast tempo to start my day off in high spirits.
Songs like those leave you in a cheery and chirpy mood and charges you up for the rest of the day. Music has no political or national barriers either. Any one can express their feelings in whatever way they like in whatever language that is best suitable to them. Genres like RAP and ROCK are best suitable for such political or national criticisms. Every individual’s taste in music varies according to their own language, culture, style, choice and mood.
Music consists of various genres for instance; the famous ones being Pop, Rock, Jazz, Hip-hop e. t. c. usually what kind of music one listens to depends highly on the mood of the person. You tend to listen to slow songs to sooth your mind, pop or rock songs to energize yourself and lift your spirits up. In fact there have been researches conducted on whether music can define an individual’s personality.
It was reported that those who enjoyed music in the Reflective and Complex category, which includes classical, jazz, folk and blues, tend to be inventive, had active imaginations, valued artistic experiences, were tolerant of others, and politically liberal. Individuals who preferred alternative, heavy metal, and rock music were classified in the Intense and Rebellious category. They were inclined to be curious, risk-takers, physically active, and intelligent. Listeners of Upbeat and Conventional music, which includes country, religious and pop music, were outgoing and cheerful, enjoyed helping others, saw themselves as physically attractive, and held conservative views. Energetic and Rhythmic music consisting of funk, hip-hop, soul, and Electronica attracted people who were talkative, energetic, forgiving, and opposed to conservative ideals. They also thought of themselves as physically attractive.
Music improves learning in other subjects. Quality music develops aesthetic awareness and sensitivity. It provides a source of enjoyment which enhances the quality of life from early experiences through adulthood and also provides a means for creativity and self-expression. It helps generate a sense of history and cultural heritage and increases understanding of other cultures through music and presents opportunity for visible success and achievement and increases the satisfaction derived from the message conveyed through music and its contents. Music itself is considered as a language. Music and language are related in many ways.
Because music stimulates our sense of hearing, it is clear that music can, and inevitably does, convey information. I consider that music is, by its very nature, has the power to express everything, whether a feeling, an attitude of mind, a psychological mood, a phenomenon of nature, etc. Although it can be said that music usually tends to express something, this is only an illusion, and not a reality. It is precisely this, which produces in us a unique emotion which has nothing in common with our ordinary sensations and our responses to the impressions of daily life. Music expresses, at different moments, serenity or liveliness, regret or triumph, fury or delight.
It expresses each of these moods, and many others, in a numberless variety of differences. It may even express a state of meaning for which there exists no adequate word in any language. In that case, musicians often like to say that it has only a purely musical meaning. They sometimes go farther and say that all music has only a purely musical meaning. My own belief is that all music has an expressive power, some more and some less, but that all music has a certain meaning behind the notes and that that meaning behind the notes is composed of, after all, what the piece is saying, what the piece is about.
If there is disagreement as to what music expresses, there is at least general agreement that music is intended to and does through its form and its content which produces in us emotions, be they strictly musical or extra-musical. So, clearly it gives us stimulus and information that can usually not be conveyed else wise. But not everyone feels that way. For a lot of people, music is just another background experience.
According to them it might make their lives a bit more pleasant but it’s not something to really ponder over. Many music producers, from big corporations to small homegrown operations, have responded in kind. Whether it’s the latest mainstream, Hip-hop or R;B boy band or the most recent and popular indie rock sensation and remixes, the music industry presents only product, not art, because that’s what the masses want to hear: something to fill up the empty air, not something to move them. Humans throughout history have used Music to express themselves to define beauty, love, anger, hatred and attain a higher level of meaning and better understanding of themselves and their culture. This art is the most human form of communication and expression.
Music has evolved around in the world for centuries among many different civilizations. Although the style and kind of music was far more different in olden period in old cultures like India, China and some parts of Middle East then compared to what it is now. Music is made up of 7 main notes. No matter, what part of the world you reside in, and whatever kind of instrument you play, all the music that is created is made of one of the 7 notes. All the 7 notes might have a different name in different parts of the world, but for the performer, they are still the same. Music is a combination of several different languages from different parts of the world.
There is no rule against merging two different languages in one song. In fact remixes and mixtures of western and eastern songs have become extremely popular today. Music encompasses mind, body, and feeling. It is universal, cultural and individual. Music is product and process. It is pleasurable and profound.
It is evident that if you don’t connect to music you are missing a part of life. Like I mentioned earlier music consists of no national political or cultural boundaries. You can use it to express yourself in every possible way or you can just listen to it to make you feel good, sooth your mind or simply to cheer you up! Beside that, it always feels good to know that some one else out there can understand your feelings and actually had the nerve to express it in proper words and the most pleasing way!”Rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul. “… Plato.
Greek philosopherRefrences? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music#History? http://www.highbias.com/features/musicmeans.html? http://www.srichinmoy.org/resources/library/music_and_spirituality/music_gods_language? http://news.softpedia.com/news/Music-is-a-form-of-art-16300.shtml? http://music.arts.uci.edu/dobrian/CD.music.lang.html
