What is “music”?
...d be sound that we enjoy. However, taste varies from one another. The sound that is regarded as music by some one can be noise for the others. So, should music be defined as something subjective, i.e. its definition and meaning should be decided by oneself? I think music should remain subjective although its definition should have some common points among different people. Its definition should include sound that is enjoyable to oneself. However, we should not fix the idea about what is enjoyable as this answer is a variable. Besides, sounds that we enjoy sometimes are not necessarily produced by human. Should they be excluded from the wonderful term of music despite the fact that they are as enjoyable as the sound we already defined as music? I think we should not be restricted music to sound produced by human. In Worlds of Music by Jeff Todd Titon, he states that the characteristics of music include rhythm, melody, repetition and variation. And it should also has function, for example, music in a concert hall is to please audience. I agree this idea. So, music should be something that has purpose and pattern. Although music is not restricted to sound by human, I think it should have some connection with human beings. Music is a term that given by human to sound. So, whether something should be music should be decided by us, the human beings. So, without human, there are only sounds in this world but no music. That is us; human that hears sound, think them and organize them cognitively to perceive them as music. And since the decision is made by us, it is inevitably be judged by values of human. So, elements of culture, belief and values of human are inevitably added to the sound that is defined as music. Singing versus talking We all agree that singing is a kind of music but talking is not. Why? What is the difference between singing and talking? By observing their difference, we know clearer about what is music. What is the difference between singing and talking? Is it simply that singing has pitch but talking is pitch less? I don’t agree that talking is completely pitch less. Some one with absolute pitch may sometimes figure out which pitch a speaker is using at a moment. I think people think talking is pitch less is probably because the pitches are switched quickly, although it is around a narrow range. Also, the switch of pitches does not follow the same way as the usual music. In music, pitches although switch, it is usually switch clearly, for example, after A has played for 2 seconds, it switches to B for 1.5 second. However, it does not occur in talking. When talking, pitches are not clearly switched. Here, also bring a question of whe...