What Exactly is Music?
Music is the art of composing or arranging vocal or instrumental sounds (or both) to produce a lovable composition of song. It can also be said that music is an auditory idea that can only exist as a sound without any words.
For centuries music has been used for a variety of purposes in many different cultures around the world throughout time. It has served as a form of entertainment, education, storytelling and healing, providing joy to people around the world. Music is universal and can be found in every culture in the world. It is also one of the oldest arts.
Music can be divided into categories, such as classical music, popular music, and contemporary music. There are many categories of music and the number keeps increasing as new genres emerge. Music can be categorized by its origin, instrumentation, or other attributes. The type of music that is popular today is usually a combination of multiple genres from different eras.
Before you can begin to understand how music communicates, you must first understand the language itself. The language of music is made up of melody, rhythm, dynamics, tempo, timbre and others which be talked about later. These components combine to create a musical language that is understood by everyone.
Rhythm, tempo and melody are 3 of the most important aspects of music and will determine how your song sounds. Without either one you risk making a lackluster track.
The rhythm is what determines how fast or slow the notes will be played. Whether it's a fast or slow song, A melody can be described as a series of pitches that have a recognizable sequence of steps, while tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece of music.
The power of music. Revealed.
Music has the power to make us feel good, release negative emotions, and connect to memories that are important to us. There is a science behind it all - more specifically neuroscience.
A study from McGill University in Montreal, Canada concluded that if you listen to music you like while doing something else physical, then your brain will use less energy (by 8-10% on average) than if you were just listening or doing the exercise by yourself. Music can help with changing moods as well and there are different genres of music for different moods such as sad songs for when you're feeling down or happy songs for when you want to be more upbeat.
Music is a part of our daily lives, but we don't always think about the social and psychological aspects of it. Music is everywhere in the world, from an infant's lullaby to a symphony. It's also been shown to have many benefits for children and adults alike!
With that in mind, here are some fun facts about music you may not know:
> Children with musical training are more likely to excel academically than those without
> Adults who listen to classical music on a regular basis have been shown to be more productive and focus better on mentally taxing tasks
> One study even showed that patients who listened to soothing music while receiving chemotherapy treatments felt less stressed and had higher levels of self-esteem!
