Why Music?
What is Music? Webster's Dictionary defines music as:
| Assignment # 2 - Sound or Music Discussion Board Post and Reply
A. Create a post in the course discussion board with your definitions of sound and music. Use your own words to define these two terms and give at least one example of each. Click here to view a video that demonstrates the process.
B. Read the post of at least one of your classmates and reply to their post. (You may have to return to this assignment later in the course if no one has posted their definitions yet)
Link to discussion board (this link only works if you are logged into Blackboard)
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'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'
Music is a subjective art. I guess you could change Plato's famous quote to "Beauty is in the ear of the beholder". Music that is pleasing to one person might sound like terrible noise to another. I personally don't like Hip-Hop. Does that mean Hip-Hop is not music? No (well maybe), I have just not taken the time to listen and understand that type of music. In this course you will hear some music that you probably won't enjoy listening to at first. I hope you will keep an open ear and try to appreciate each type of music we study.
Music is Everywhere. In elevators, in stores, at sporting events, in your car on the radio. How many people do you pass in the hall or on the street using earbuds to listen to their favorite music? Music can get us excited and pumped us up; music can console us when we are feeling sad. Music can inspire us. You may not realize it, but the musical score of a movie adds a lot to your enjoyment of that movie.
Music gives us a sense of belonging. Every country has a national anthem - a song that unites it's citizens. Schools have fight songs and alma maters. The type of music you enjoy listening to makes you a part of a group. What type of music do you like to listen to? Classical, Contemporary Christian, Pop, Easy Listening, Rock and Roll, Jazz, Country, Hip Hop, Fusion, Heavy Metal, Rap, R & B? Did I leave your favorite type of music off this list? In this semester we will be studying the music of 'dead white guys'. But if you happen to take semester 2, we'll get to the type of music you like!
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Music is good for you.
Listening to Classical music:
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causes the heart beat and pulse rate to relax to the beat of the music
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decreases blood pressure
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affects the amplitude and frequency of brain waves
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activates the left and right brain, maximizing learning and retention of information
There are stories of famous people - Thomas Jefferson while writing the Declaration of Independence and Albert Einstein when working on equations for example - solving their problems while playing the violin. Classical music has been found to increase plant growth and production as well. Studies have shown that plants exposed to classical music produced more than those not exposed to any music at all. (In some studies, the use of non-Classical music [heavy metal and other rock music] was shown to have negative effects on growth.)
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Music can help you in other school subjects.
Studies have shown that students that are involved in the performing arts make better all-around students.
Here are some correlations between music and other school subjects:
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Math - Music is full of rhythm and patterns. The physics of music is all about ratios.
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Language - Longfellow said "Music is the universal language of mankind". Most vocal music is poetry.
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Science - Sound itself is a scientific principal. It is no mistake that the lesson prior to this was titled "The Science of Sound".
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Social Studies - The history of music IS the history of the Western World. You will see throughout this course that music was both influenced by and had an influence on the way things progressed through European and American history.