What is called music?

[Chirs]

Yes, that makes a lot more sense in my head (a somewhat vacuous space that tends to echo a great deal deal deal deal).

My field is sociology so I will be of little use. However, I would start with your starting point - music is sound organized by the action or perception of human beings - and introduce some of Foucault's theories of bio-power. Consider also that the music tends to reflect the class structure prevalent at the time and place being considered. Recalling that, until relatively recently, all things Celt were dismissed with a primitivist discourse, it is of little wonder that we do not see more courtly music within this tradition.

When we look to places outside of colonial European influence we see music as the sounds which reflect daily life. In pre-invasion Tibet, all songs were either of a religious nature or reflected a specific task. There were songs for haying, songs for building, songs (and a dance) for tamping the soil-covered roofs. We see the same tendency in pre-colonial African cultures and in Celtic traditions. The Celts have songs for worsting wool, for haying, for worship, for all aspects of life. They also used music as a way of remembering information. In fact, now that I think of it, I have heard of songs in several languages that are specifically for learning and remembering information, from songs for school children to grand bardic tales.

My answer to your question would then be: music is a form of cultural expression that may reflect common activities (do we see this represented in modern 'gangsta rap'?); may reinforce cultural values, norms, mores which would include religion, warnings of what to avoid doing, and songs of praise for what is to be encouraged; may reflect social standing (how many people today consider orchestral music to be 'high class'?); and, in more recent times, music may simply be yet another commodity, just a product for sale.

I don't know if any of that is of use to you but, for what it's worth, I offer.

[mookien]

CMcG: An old existentialist poem (here slightly modified) goes ...

As I was walking up the stair
I heard music that wasn't there.
It wasn't there again today.
I wish to hell it'd go away.

The only reason for the word "music" is to distinguish those things that are music from those things that are not. To me for something to be music it has to combine some (nonempty) subset of melody, harmony, and rhythm. But, that's just my opinion.

Music is inherently subjective. To some folks coins falling out of a slot machine is music to their ears. Thus, the word music is inherently ambiguous. It can be what anybody wants it to be at any time, so using the word in ordinary conversation can often be confusing.

Now, I suspect the above isn't particularly useful for your paper, but it is my one-cents worth. Or, perhaps non-cents. :-) Good luck with the paper.

[Danaidh]

To me, music is emotion put not in words, but expressive notes. It transends any and all languages because all who hear it, recognize it as music (whether they like it or not makes no difference in that point), and most will understand the emotion behind the highs, lows, slow, or fast tempo. As a musician, music is first math in whole & fractional numbers, requiring skill to play each note exactly in the time-frame the author intended, and secondly to bring the music alive by either adhering to or manipulating the tempo, based on the emotion I wish to convey (either the author's or mine). Math is also an international language.
The Celtic music I play is considered folk music. The instrument I play (bagpipes) is a folk instrument. There's modern Celt music, of course, so when you ask for a Celtic opinion, you're asking something that covers hundreds (if not thousands) of years. I currently play known common folk songs, but to me the most beautiful sound is the Piobaireachd (classical). But I digress. I've given my opinion on music itself, and perhaps if you consider it, it may help your paper in some small way.

[tripleblessed]

As you specifically mention Pythagoras, I'll post a quibble with the definition
as requiring human manipulation. Pythagoras has been thought of as a mathematician, but in his life was more a musician and metaphysician and teacher of arcane wisdom, frequently using mathematics as metaphor in explanation. He said that in his meditations he began to hear the voice of the sun, and later the voices of the planets "as they make their stately march about the sun". He called this "the music of the spheres", and said that the planets sit outward from the sun in the the same mathematical ratios as the notes in the octave. These same ratios are the subject of
Da Vinci's Vitruvian man, and speak to the nature of what nature perceives
as harmony. Whether or not it is music could be said to be a statement of
whether it fits those ratios. Or not. Hotly debated for a long time now.


As always, I know little or nothing. Any accuracy is attributed to good teachers, all error is because I'm an idiot and recall incorrectly.

[EagleJCS]

Interesting question. The answer could run the gamut from the philosophical to the physical.

For me, music is a set of aural tones (sound waves) that in combination are pleasing to my ear. I happen to like a wide variety of music that encompass both Eastern and Western traditions. I tend to gravitate toward 50's-80's rock, because that's what I grew up with, but I also listen to classical, country/western, folk, celtic session/traditional, and Highland bagpipes (solo and band) on a regular basis. I don't have any recordings in my collection, but I can also appreciate Indian ragas and Japanese koto and flute.

I also have a CD that is a digital representation of the EM spectrum emitted by celestial objects in our solar system (in most cases modulated to fall within the human aural spectrum). "Symphonies of the Planets I", from NASA, utilizing the Voyager recordings.

Best of luck in your endeavor!

As a side note, my niece just won first place for her grade in her school's Science Fair by doing a study comparing several person's physiological response (heart rate) to 5 different types of music. She took a base rate using a pulse/oximeter, then had them listen to a tune/song, took their pulse again, let them rest for some time, then took another rate, listen to another song, etc. She then charted the results. (I haven't seen all of the details yet, just heard about it through my mother - her gm).

[McElmurry]

As human beings we experience our environment through our senses. What we experience can influence what we think and how we feel. For instance you might walk out on a hot pavement in bare feet and think ouch (I’m an idiot), ouch (I’m an idiot), ouch (I’m an idiot), as you hop back over to the cool grass. Or upon returning from a long hike up to the top of a peak you might put your feet in a cool stream, relive in your mind the nicer parts of the hike and think, that wasn’t so bad. My first point is what we sense can influence what we think and how we feel.

As a brief aside, we have some ability to control what we experience. We can attend a ball game where we know we can experience sun a hotdog and beer. We may experience an exciting play and either defeat of victory. My second point is we have some ability to choose what we experience.

Sound is one thing we can sense and can influence our thinking and feeling. A waterfall may be soothing. The sound of a jackhammer may be annoying. If you are trying to fall asleep a waterfall may be frustrating. If you are happy to see your sidewalk finally being repaired a jackhammer may be welcome. Point three is sound is one of the senses that can influence how we think or feel but the influence is not the same for everyone or even for one person at different times.

If we assume we are talking about man made music then we are talking about one person (or a group) attempting to influence, or at least creating the potential to influence, the thoughts or emotions of another. This is communication.

So putting these points together, what I call music is a form of communication which can influence what people think or feel through combinations of auditory signals that appeal to other elements of us beyond reason.

Within the existential framework music is often used to express angst; perhaps sharing angst lessens the sting and brings some back from the brink. Music often uses love as a theme; the concept of love may add meaning to life or help one cope with despair. We can self-medicate with music including our own music. There are likely other common themes between music and existentialism but my philosophy is very rusty.

Best I could do on short notice, now I must go experience dinner with the Other.

[CMcG]

The paper is finally written! Thanks for all the comments. It's a little too long to post here but if anyone is interested in reading it, give me your email over PM and I'll send you a copy.

[Jerry]

While I'm no expert, I'd have to paraphrase an old saying, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder". When applied to music, I'd say, Music is in the ear of the listener. For instance I don't consider "Rap" to be music. But, then, my exposure is limited to the young people driving down the street with their amped up radio or CD player so loud that the roof of the car seems to vibrate. To them, maybe my Albannach CD isn't music.

[CMcG]

When applied to music, I'd say, Music is in the ear of the listener. <snip>

It is seductively logical to construe music as a purely subjective construct. About 2/3 of the way through my paper I came to a similar conclusion but then ultimately rejected it. The problem is that, no matter what people's opinion may be, there is always a sonic event occurring in time, which they are in a relationship with. The distinction between subject and object is itself constructed because we cannot exist without a world.

Part of my conclusion is based on the etymology of the word 'music,' which comes to us from the ancient Greek mousikē. The origins point to the art of the Muses, who were divine beings in charge of knowledge and wisdom. Mousikē was not something that people created, rather, it was a gift from the Gods. Music therefor, has less to do with what people call it, than to whom music calls...

[tripleblessed]

Gian Carlo Menotti, composer of "Ahmal and the Night Visitors", was asked how he came to compose such a wide variety of music. His reply was that he had never composed any music, rather, he had just listened attentively and had written down what he heard. Other great composers have made similar remarks indicating that the music is already there, and their task was only the writing down of it. There is an astonishing amount of research on the effects of various types of "music", which most people ignore if they even know it's there. The reason? They don't like it's implications re the stuff they choose for listening. The same filter they apply to news, politics, and history, they also apply to music. Certainly, we have the "right" to ignore the facts when forming our opinions,but if we look at the world around us, we see a lot of unnecessary chaos results. The problem arises when we begin to believe our own PR and believe our opinion is fact, resulting also in closed threads. Poor listening choices, like poor food and drink choices, can not only negatively effect our health, but damage and impair even our ability to think clearly.