What is music?

A scientist might describe music as

"A combination of pitches that are in tune with each other and consistent rhythms in the form of a pulse at identical intervals."

A minimalist might say

"Organized sound"

Google says

vocal or instrumental sounds (or both) combined in such a way as to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion.

Merriam-Webster proclaims

"the science or art of ordering tones or sounds in succession, in combination, and in temporal relationships to produce a composition having unity and continuity"

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Do you find any of these definitions convincing?

Can you remember the last time music made you cry?

Do you remember the smell of an old car when the radio plays a song from your childhood?

Have you used music to help you think through a troubling issue? Is there a time when music blasted your muscles to a new weight-lifting record? Has it ever held you at rapt attention, gasping at its beauty?

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I am perplexed by this topic. Music is a focal point in our lives. It can be caught floating in the atmosphere anywhere people gather. It enhances the story telling in our favorite movies and TV shows. I wonder if Star Wars would be as much of a cultural phenomenon without it’s iconic music?

I don’t have to convince you that we are all deeply familiar with music, but who among us can accurately define what it is? Is this even possible? Is there one succinct definition that captures the soul of the art? One that communicates its nuance, its grandeur, and its spirit?

An English teacher might say,

“Music is a language...”

I think this is backwards. Music isn’t a language-

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Language is music!

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I invite you to imagine a time at the dawn of our species before there was science, before there was literature, or poetry, or any words at all. At this volcanic moment, all we had were sounds: high or low; loud or soft; short or prolonged.

Thus communication was born! Words have developed so we may precisely communicate using the logical parts of each other’s minds, but they are built on the foundation of pitch, articulation, and dynamics already inherent in speech.

People speak different languages all over the world, yet all of us instinctively understand music. Without training we all feel in our gut whether the sonic story is triumphant, mighty, sad, or lonely. A room full of native Japanese, Russian, and French speakers could all enjoy a Beethoven symphony while feeling a piercingly similar emotion. How can this be? How can music impart emotion in such a profound and specific way that it surpasses verbal description? I believe that our ability to hear music is fundamental to our human nature.

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Do any of these descriptions allow you to picture the emotional reaction we experience with music? Do they illuminate the reason Nirvana’s grunge guitar is invigorating to one set of ears, and headache-inducing noise to another?

Shall we consider the fact that different people react in unique ways to the same music?

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Does music exist at all without a human brain to interpret the sound?

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Sounds are just frequencies in the air. It takes the body and mind and soul of a human to experience those frequencies as music. Music happens inside. Eureka!

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Sound is what your hear; Music is what you feel

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When I was younger I thought this was the perfect description for music.
My feelings have evolved, however, as I have grown. Now I am more fascinated by music’s power to heal. I think healing is the most incredible aspect of music. People only listen to music that heals them. Not everyone feels better after listening to wailing guitars and crying saxophones. But I sure do.

Now I have a much simpler definition of music. I believe this definition completely encapsulates everything that music is and everything it can do. Music is

HEALING VIBRATION!

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I would like to invite you to decide for yourself: what is music? Please leave a comment below with your own personal definition. Think you can do better than mine? Here is your chance!

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This is an original post by @CosmicVibration for Steemit on 22 October, 2017.