Music is a crucial element of human culture. As an emotional tool, music can assist individuals at every stage in life: from helping newborns form healthy bonds with their parents to aiding palliative care for terminally ill individuals.
Researchers have discovered that different kinds of music resonate differently with various personality types. Extroverts tend to enjoy Ed Sheeran songs while agreeable people prefer Marvin Gaye’s tunes.
Origins
History of music closely parallels its written representation, from early attempts at recording musical sounds on cuneiform tablets through modern notations such as chromatic scale and syllable-based notation. Over time these early developments eventually gave way to religious chants which combined musical symbols with verbal texts for vocalization purposes.
These same influences have also resulted in an array of musical styles. As an art, music lends itself easily to joining with words (folk song, art song and opera) or with movement of the body in dance performances.
Music has long been recognized for its ability to evoke emotional responses, with psychotherapy and geriatrics using music therapy as an adjunctive therapy modality. Extramusical considerations – such as Plato and Confucius’ ideas regarding ethics in relation to music – have led to various uses for musical compositions.
Functions
Music serves a number of functions for humans, including emotional communication, social bonding and entertainment. Some studies have attributed these uses to evolutionary speculations while others base them in experimental psychology or aesthetics.
Studies on the functional role of music often involve comparing different genres and cultures. One such study revealed that most predictive functions for music preference included diversion, self-reflection, prompting memories and emotion regulation.
Music plays an invaluable role in connecting people and communities together, be it work songs, lullabies, national anthems or modern social settings such as listening parties. Such connections create community while alleviating stress and building resilience.
Components
Rhythm is an integral component of music’s beat and timing, comprising long and short syllables to create its basic beat pattern, along with percussive beats, melodic notes and silence-breaking breaks known as rests.
Dynamic variations allow music to express emotion and add depth, often indicated with Italian terms like fortissimo, pianissimo and crescendo in musical notation.
Harmony refers to the combination of different melodies that creates the overall sound of a song. These compositions typically follow predetermined scales of notes. Harmony adds complexity to a composition while providing emotional relief.
Styles
Music spans across many genres and subgenres, each influenced by others in its own way. Rock music, for example, has given rise to numerous sub-genres while heavy metal is simply rock music played through amplified means.
Jazz music has its roots in African American culture and features distinct rhythm and blues elements, often including improvisation.
Pop music is an umbrella genre that encompasses numerous artists spanning classic Michael Jackson to modern performers like Mariah Carey and Jorja Smith.
Mod is an English music genre from the 1960s that fuses rock ‘n’ roll, modern jazz, and Northern Soul into one hybrid genre with its signature fast rhythmic beat.
Influences
Music has an immense effect on culture and society. It shapes our values and beliefs; for instance, songs promoting peace or social injustice may unite groups of people together or raise awareness. Music also shapes social movements; in the 1960s and 70s many protest songs became anthems of civil rights movements and helped make transformative changes possible in society.
Music can influence morals; for instance, rap and hip-hop songs often include lyrics glorifying sex, drugs and violence. Furthermore, research suggests a correlation between personality traits and music preference; therefore learning different musical styles helps us understand cultures and societies better as well as give insight into how our past shaped the present.