What Is Music? A Research On What Music Can Communicate
For this assignment, please write an essay of 1000–1500 words in which you investigate one of the following topic questions about the nature of human music-making:
1 What is music?2 When do we make music?3 What can music communicate?4 How does music express identity?5 Why is music beautiful?
A successful essay will acknowledge the complexities of the chosen topic question by arguing that the question has a variety of legitimate (and perhaps contradictory) answers. For some topics, your arguments may have as much to do with the people and cultures who produce the music as with the music itself.For each argument that you make, introduce your reader to one or more musical examples that will help to support it. You must incorporate at least two of the musical examples that we have associated with the question in class. You must also incorporate at least two examples (not from class) that you have researched independently.Do not assume that your reader has any prior knowledge of the musical examples that you have selected—nor with the topic of your essay as a whole! A successful essay will therefore feature a clear introduction to the topic question itself along with sufficient explanation of the chosen examples (using SHMRG) to allow the reader to understand your point.Your essay should conclude with a List of References, not to be included in the word count, in which you list the title, the composer or performer, and (whenever possible) the URL of the musical recordings that you have discussed in the essay. Any other works that you cite in the essay should also appear on the list. Please use a citation format (MLA, Chicago, etc.) that you are comfortable with.
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Professor
20 November 2017
A Research Paper on What Music Can Communicate
Introduction
The world of visual arts is broad and wide with various topics from painting to sculpting, designing, photography, filmmaking and even photography but this paper will focus on one subject-matter and that is Music. Music is used as a Universal language to the soul and is used for different purposes, goals and reasons. Oftentimes it is used to heal mental sickness such as depression or anxiety, while some people use it to inspire and encourage them at work, and a few use it as an expression of what they feel when they don’t have the courage to express their emotions in words. Accordingly, music is such a powerful tool for communication whereby people coming from different cultural backgrounds could share their emotions, motivations, inspirations, and even political, social or spiritual messages. Likewise, “music also creates a legitimate style of human interaction for children and adults with special needs which lessens communication barriers” (Miell D.). Music which is classical in nature has been reported and assessed to have positive physical effects that can produce genuine emotions. Music is a necessary part of human life defined also as a universal language. Historically speaking, music was created way before we were born, “during the ancient years where tribes used drums to communicate over long distances, through rhythmic patterns that communicate messages having the capability to travel miles” (Starr A.). Nowadays, music has a more political or spiritual meaning that caters to the needs of the people. According to a Sociologist named Denisoff Serge, there are five primary goals in a protest song: “Firstly, recognizing the problems, issues and controversies in society that persuade and reach to a person’s emotions, Secondly, providing solutions through sounds, lyrics and rhythm in relation to the action and desired goals to be
performed, Thirdly, strengthening the structure of values of the individuals who are a part of a particular movement, Fourthly, persuading people and listeners to join the movement with the use of sympathy and support, and lastly, creating unity and a fresh perspective in terms of world view” (Starr A.). Hence, in general, music could communicate Information, through the lyrics, Emotion, through Sound, Harmony, Melody and Rhythm, Action, through Sound, Harmony, Melody and Rhythm and Music with Drama, in which actors communicate a story to the audience. In addition, Drama consists of three kinds such as the Opera, Musical Theatre or the Musicals and the Soundtrack to a Film or the Diegetic Music.
An Analysis of What Music Communicates and Musical Examples:
The four songs set as an example for this paper communicate to the emotions through varying information of a sad love or relationships and aim to persuade the heart.
S - Timbre sounds relaxing. The timbres included a piano and guitar on all of the four songs, sang by a male voice from beginning to the end. Chou’s songs were sang by a male voice with a homophonic texture showing melody with a harmonic accompaniment. The volume gets louder in the chorus and at the end part of the four songs.
H - The music begins with a homophonic texture with the melody of the male voices and a harmonic accompaniment in the piano for the songs of Porter and Chou. The Mode is major from beginning to the end on all four songs.
M - The verses show a strong melodic range with the singer using only a few pitches, and changes into a wider melodic range when its already in the chorus.
R- Furthermore, all four songs are in Medium tempo with a duple meter in some parts of the songs by Chou, and Porter.
G - The tempo of the songs below were slow and tender as the combination of melody and rhythm shows sadness and melancholy. Likewise all four songs where in major mode, with the mixture of timbre from a piano and guitar. Likew...