Music Prevails

MUSIC PREVAILS: Importance of music through history.
VGB
May 2012
Abstract
Music is a fundamental part of the existence of a human being. Through history, it has been perceived in different ways; it has had more important in some periods and in others, it has lost significance. Even so, music has been a permanent substance in this world. Music originated in the prehistoric ages, developingall sorts of new techniques and styles, which allowed music to still be one of the most important concepts in life up to date. Music is constantly in our lives, whether we are aware of it or not; it is the perception that changes. It can be heard in various forms such as nursery rhymes or chants sung by children, it can come through the simple act of humming, it can be heard professionally by aperformance of an orchestra and it can be sung along to on the radio.
What few people do notice is that music actually has a meaningful background and that it deserves to be acknowledged. The following essay was done with a purpose of informing the reader about the long history that music has had, mentioning it’s different periods and its many heroes or artists that found a way to incite thepropagation of their music. As some of us know, music has had a vast evolution that has gradually created modern music genres and styles. Towards the end of this essay, there will be a short analysis on what music has become in the 20th and 21st century and it will conclude with the importance that music has in modern day life and how it has helped thousands of people in many ways.

1. Introduction:What is Music?
In a deeper context, it’s safe to say that music should always attain a way to pour out strong emotion through sounds and lyrics so that the receptor or the audience can feel identified with it. The definition of music has been a subject of debate for a long time now through the eyes of various musicians, philosophers and scientists. The evolution that music has had throughout theyears has also made it harder to define, relying on different opinions from regions all over the world. Even though many philosophers of art, composers, semioticians, sociologists and lexicographers aren’t satisfied with one single definition, music is perhaps the most universal art and has an overly positive influence on morality or, as Aristotle would say, ‘to live well’.(http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-ethics/)
It has been established that music corresponds to the art of organizing a combination of sounds and silences in a sensitive and logical way. In order to accomplish this, there are three fundamental elements used: melody, harmony and rhythm. Melody is the conjunction of linear musical sounds that are repetitive and are perceived as a single entity. Harmony is theuse of simultaneous pitches or chords that accompanies the melody and finally, rhythm is considered the pause and repetition of sounds and silences. Even though music is basically conformed out of those three components, there are actually just two main elements to describe its principal characteristics: the sounds and the silences. A sound is an invisible mechanical wave that is in constantvibration. It travels in waves, spreading outwards from the source of the sound and is composed of frequencies. On the other hand, silence is when there is complete absence of sound.
Music is an artistic manifestation of a cultural product that tries to create an experience to the listener. This experience causes certain stimulation on the perception of a human being, which allows music to havedifferent purposes. One can be for entertainment, another can be for the love, pursuit and knowledge of art and the other can even be used for communication. “Music is more than entertainment. Music is art. Music is skill. Music is practice. Music is life.” (http://musicempowersfoundation.com/the-importance-of-music.html)

2. Transformation of Music from Prehistory until Modern day 21st century...