What is music?

[brendan765]

You tell me.

[outin]

Too early in the morning for such a deep question, sorry 

Maybe you could ask Mr. Google?

[p2u_]

What is music? You tell me.

Depends on who you define the term for. Two years or so ago, our valued member ted gave us a link to a recording he made of a singing and improvising trush. Before such a genius bird (repeats a motive 3 times and then invents another one on the spot, never repeating itself), I'd rather keep silent and not give any definitions...

Paul

[zezhyrule]

Sound with thought

[49410enrique]

[brendan765]

Sound with thought

I like that answer, simple and true.

[chauncey]

I think that's a question that every musician has to ask himself or herself at a point in time. Or at least they should. I do have my own definition of what music is, but I don't share it publicly. One of the reasons being is that it's MY personal reason and I dont want people to steal the idea Sit down in a comfy chair one day and just sit and think, trust me! 

[cmg]

I think that's a question that every musician has to ask himself or herself at a point in time. Or at least they should. I do have my own definition of what music is, but I don't share it publicly. One of the reasons being is that it's MY personal reason and I dont want people to steal the idea Sit down in a comfy chair one day and just sit and think, trust me! 

Okay, uh, thanks.

The classic definition is "organized noise."

[thesixthsensemusic]

A series of sounds organised in time, for their aesthetic value.

[drexo]

Music is an instrument itself to communicate through.

It's far more interesting compared to words. Words are dull - just like these words I'm typing right now. Music is the language I deal with.

[rachmaninoff_forever]

Organized sound?

[the89thkey]

Organized sound?

I think the OP was not looking for a textbook definition...

It's too late to practice (those damn neighbors!) so maybe I'll sit down and think about this question a little bit.

Then again, maybe I won't.

Or maybe I will just say that music is a much deeper thing than organized sound or a collection of sounds through time for aesthetic value or anything else that sounds like that. Music is...well, the language of the musician. It's the channel through which pianists convey their emotion in front of a large audience. Music remains the biggest part of my life, the part that will never go away. If you don't know what I'm talking about...you aren't serious about music. It's a powerful thing. More powerful than many people know. It's impossible to rattle off a definition of "music" beyond what has already been addressed.

[nanabush]

It's just another medium of expression. 

Music with language backing it up is much easier understood, but just pure sonic stuff (no lyrics!), can represent some pretty serious, intense stuff.  Unlike visual art, it can't replicate stuff that people are familiar with, but it manipulates the constraints given, just like a painter would with different tools and colors.

Huge BS ramble, but honestly, music uses a lot of mathematical relationships, but that is not what drives people to study it and understand it. 

Like most other people here, I just f*cking love a huge variety of music, and love how it goes off in such insane tangents (African music, 12-tone, heavy metal, digital music, church music, honestly!)

[drexo]

Huge BS ramble, but honestly, music uses a lot of mathematical relationships, but that is not what drives people to study it and understand it. 

Like most other people here, I just f*cking love a huge variety of music, and love how it goes off in such insane tangents (African music, 12-tone, heavy metal, digital music, church music, honestly!)

Could you explain me your point of view about the cohesion of mathematics and music?

Fully agree with you on the second part.

[nanabush]

Hehe...

I mean theoretical relationship; temperament, relations with intervals.  Cadences, the makeup of chords, even fingering patterns.  If you go really deep, understanding sound waves.

What I'm saying is that those are all there, but a lot of musicians disregard or are unaware of this stuff, and are still able to make some form of 'music'.  I understand music theory, and similar to math, there are a ton of relationships that keep coming up over and over.  I don't necessarily understand it to a full extent, but dissonance is a pretty intense physics concept.

[brendan765]

Hehe...

I mean theoretical relationship; temperament, relations with intervals.  Cadences, the makeup of chords, even fingering patterns.  If you go really deep, understanding sound waves.

What I'm saying is that those are all there, but a lot of musicians disregard or are unaware of this stuff, and are still able to make some form of 'music'.  I understand music theory, and similar to math, there are a ton of relationships that keep coming up over and over.  I don't necessarily understand it to a full extent, but dissonance is a pretty intense physics concept.

I'm aware! I had a really cool Jazz Theory Teacher at Highscool 2 years ago, and he told us all about the physics part of it.

[tchristec]

I thought this was an interesting insight.  It doesn't try to define music itself, rather, it closes in on it's function.

‎"Music is an essential ingredient of a civilized life. It has nothing to do with the glitter of an occasional gala. You need it as you need bread. " Isaac Stern