What Is Music?
We listen to music every day. Whether on the radio, on portable devices such as mobile phones, or on our computers. We naturally understand what someone means when they talk about "music". But if someone asks what music actually is, answering that question is not quite so easy, because it is a fundamentally different kind of question.
People often try to describe music using things they personally associate with it: emotions, notes, rhythm, melody, and so on. But we can take a step back and reduce music to its absolute fundamentals. Essentially, music is nothing more than:
- Rhythm and
- Sound / Noise.
Rhythm
Rhythm refers to the various impulses, meaning the moments when you hear a sound or noise, as well as the moments when you hear nothing.
However, rhythm cannot be heard without sound or noise. It may exist, but there is nothing for our ears to perceive.
Sound and Noise
Sound or noise is therefore essential in order to perceive rhythm in the first place.
The distinction between sound and noise is relatively easy to explain: We speak of a sound when it has a specific pitch (or specific pitches). Put another way: If you can hum along to something you hear, it is considered a sound.
If this is not possible, we speak of noise. This is because noise contains so many different sounds that they can no longer be distinguished from one another.
The hissing of a tap is therefore noise, whereas the chirping of a bird is a sound. The humming of a fan is noise, whereas the striking of a clock's bell is a sound.
Incidentally, distinguishing between sound and noise is not always so straightforward. Many engines, for example, have a dominant tone that you could actually hum along to. However, due to the many other sounds they produce, you would probably still describe them as noise.
How Is Music Created?
Since music is nothing more than rhythm and sound / noise, it is created by organizing these elements.
Music involves a certain degree of planning. This means that we only speak of music when someone has at least had the intention of actually creating music.