Music affects the brain in numerous ways, some of which are quantifiable by researchers. They can observe how different musical properties such as pitch, chords and timbre affect brain activity.
Philosophers rarely examine music’s intrinsic nature. Instead, those who have done so usually look at its use in dance, religion, folk tradition or language based contexts; or to see whether words are associated with specific pieces.
It is a form of communication
Music is an universal language that has the ability to evoke deep emotional reactions and spark creative thought processes. It can express love, anger, fear, joy and sadness while simultaneously building a sense of identity and unity across cultures and races.
Music can be heard both live and recorded for media such as radio and TV broadcast. Recording technology enables musicians to edit and splice sounds that were once impossible during performances; however, the best way of experiencing live musical performances remains at concerts or private listening sessions.
Researchers have discovered that music communicates emotion by altering our perception of visual images. In one experiment, participants were shown pictures of faces while listening to either happy or sad music and then asked to rate how they felt about each face image on a scale from 1-7.
It is a form of self-expression
People express themselves through art, photos, dancing, playing a musical instrument or singing; all these forms of self-expression help reduce stress levels in stressful situations and can help people relax faster during rehabilitation sessions. Research even indicates music as helping these patients recover faster!
Modern music, whether produced using an acoustic or electronic instrument, is created through various techniques and traditions that span centuries. Genres produced are as diverse as their creators. Musicians tend to claim various styles as their own as an expression of individualism and self-expression.
Music is an artistic discipline created through human intervention to express emotional experience in beautiful sounds that conform to a culture’s standards of emotional expression and beauty. Music has long been used to convey an array of human feelings; dance, drama, poetry – these arts all include elements of music – as an artistic outlet. Many philosophers have debated its inner workings but all come to various conclusions regarding its value – Immanuel Kant considered music inferior among other arts while Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel extolled its discursive capabilities.
It is a form of cultural preservation
Music is one of the most influential means of cultural preservation. It evokes age-old traditions while motivating individuals to work toward social change. Additionally, it can be played in multiple settings and accessible to people of all abilities – even deaf people can experience the power of music through vibrations in their bodies!
Music’s definition depends on its context of creation. Some cultures view music as an extension of language that contributes to human existence while other see it as a tool that serves a specific function such as mating calls for animals.
Others see music simply as entertainment and enjoy it for its own sake, enjoying both traditional and contemporary forms simultaneously. No matter the definition of music used to define it, its presence remains an integral component of human experience.
It is a form of entertainment
Music is an art form which uses vocal or instrumental sounds for beauty of form and emotional expression through culturally accepted standards of rhythm, melody and harmony. Music also allows for improvisation – though iPod-solitaire listening reality differs dramatically from that of the nine muses from Greek mythology: Calliope (poetry), Clio (history), Euterpe (harmony and melodic poetry), Melpomene (tragedy), Polyhymnia (choral singing/hymns/hymns/hymns/hymns/hymns/hymns/hymns/hymns/hymns), Terpsichore/dance and Urania (astronomy).
Music can have an immediate effect on emotions, often manifested physically as blushing or trembling. Studies also indicate its effect on cognitive and behavioral processes as well. Some scholars even propose it may have evolved as an extension of language similar to animal mating calls; music is found across cultures as an essential element in ritual activities, cosmologies and managing human relations.