Music Is Everywhere

Music is heard almost every place that we go- restaurants, grocery stores, the mall, farmer’s market, in the office, etc. Often times, the music is tuned out or ignored, but at other times, people get up and move to the music or sing along with it. As mentioned in the lecture, music is often used to fill time or space while we are doing other things such as homework, working or cooking. Can we fully appreciate and understand music if we are constantly occupied while listening to it? Appreciation for music isn’t just listening to it while we are doing laundry. Appreciation comes after a process of steps. The first step is exposure and receptivity to music. It requires attention to the sound and performance of music- really listening to it. The second step is analysis and criticism: looking at the elements of style and compositional details of the music. This takes concentration and thought along with awareness of detail. The third step, understanding is the product of exposure and criticism. Once one has been exposed to the music and made their analysis, one can understand the music. Personal taste is the last step in the process. It is the impact that the musical piece had on you after you have gone through and finished the previous three steps. The process of appreciation for music is technically complete after exposure, analysis, understanding and personal taste, however; I believe that appreciation for music also requires a love and passion for music. Without a love or passion for music, I do not believe one can go through the process of appreciation. To sit down and actually listen to music and pay attention to detail takes time-- one only takes time to do something if that person enjoys what they are taking time out of their lives to do. “Music is the universal language of mankind,” is a very true statement. Without any words to a piece of music, there can be conclusions drawn from it. One can tell the emotion of the composer. It can be an happy, free-spirited feel or a heavy, dark and sad emotion carried with it. In most places, people will move to music that is played, whether it be just tapping their foot or dancing in full bloom. People from all over the world can usually relate to any kind of music -whether they understand the language or not. Music is a fine art, and as with all fine arts, people can observe, listen, absorb all of it’s aspects and take their own meaning from it. All of these things make music a universal language. In conclusion, music is everywhere from background music in an elevator, to your child’s CD player at bedtime. Music appreciation comes after a process of being exposed, criticizing, understanding and taste, and in my opinion, passion. It is a universal language all people from around the world can relate to.