Food For Thought : What is Music ?
Well music has been a part of life since the Indus Valley Civilization ( or may be before that ) the proof for this fact is the recovery of various instruments such as the seven holed flute and various other single stringed instruments which look more like bows for self defence rather than musical objects, anyways I am not here to talk about the history of music but instead discuss just plain and simple music.
Well we can start of with the point that the music has travelled and improved quite a bit from the Indus valley civilization when human’s rather made sounds from the single stringed bows to the, current days of modern world where we do not have single stringed bows but rather 12 stringed electric guitars, ‘Yeah But It Was Not An Immediate Transition’. But it was a slow and evolving process with time. I guess that in early man era even a miniscule used to be considered music .But the evolution of music has been a mixed blessing for mankind. With the evolution of music have increased the complexities involved in music , the technology associated with it , the millions instead gazillions of classification of types of music. ‘In mid 60’s we had simple acoustic foot-tapping country side western music topping the charts but with evolution of technology came more modern genres such as EDM, pop, rock, rap, RnB which have forced almost an extinction of the classic genres such as the country side music.‘
The youth these days have playlists of the more modern genres on their iPods and iPhones rather than listening to classics of artists such as ROY ACUFF ( now how many of you have even heard the name ?). Their are just way to many genres in music these days and rather way to many basis of classification of music , every genre has 100 sub-genres which are usually open to individual perception but many a times are also controversies ,also other than genres we have the basis of classification on region (western or indian classical, hollywood or bollywood) then types of devices they are recorded on (digital or analog . Most of the music we have around is digital (MP3’S,CD’S etc etc) !! So many classifications makes it confusing for the listener to choose from , But from a different point of view it gives the listener gives many choices to choose from also .Also such classifications have even made it to easy to classify music under various categories for musicians and other professionals in the field of music. Well enough with the technical stuff about music and it’s classification, let’s see what importance does music hold in one’s life.
Believe it or not music does play a very important role in the life of an individual , I know it sounds really cheesy but as said by LISA MARIE PRESLEY daughter of the infamous ELVIS PRESLEY , “ music imbeds our daily life, weaving its beauty and emotion through our thoughts, activities and memories.” Well it does give you some killer memories , at least from a musician point of view , one of them being when you are on stage for the first time ever and the luck supports you and the crowd appreciates your efforts (been there, done that SWAG). Music is an expression of self, what a person might be under going , may it be pain ,happiness, love, confusion or any other emotion .It can be recorded or played live and shared with an audience . From Beethoven to Bollywood music has the unique ability to uplift people’s hearts and provide a sense of hope as they travel on an often-difficult road. There are even some bizarre facts about music :Some doctors in the U.S.A tell they play CDs of relaxing piano music in the hospital to calm patients before surgery (might help them save the cost of anesthesia) .Some medical research show that Music has the ability to train our brain for higher level of thinking – the kind of thinking for problem solving, comparing and contrasting the similarities and difference between objects, analyzing, reaching conclusion, synthesizing, and evaluating information.( now this makes me wonder if eminem’s kid can get a noble prize). BUT PLEASE MAKE IT A NOTE I AM NOT SAYING THAT THESE ARE THE REASONS FOR PICKING MUSIC UP AS A HOBBY, but none the less these facts are helpful .Music is very often even used as a tool for spreading social messages such as togetherness or oneness, the best example would be on the occasion of recent earthquake in HAITI , various music stars (80 artists and performers in number ) came together irrespective of genres and remade a version of the classic track called “ WE ARE THE WORLD” originally performed by the king of pop MICHAEL JACKSON to raise funds and keep the hopes of people alive in HAITI, this also set’s a PERFECT example for Unity in Diversity.
Well enough inspiration I guess till now, but the question remain’s “How do I learn music ?” “What is Music ?” Well the answer will be ,where there is a will there is a way. For christ sake, this is the 21st century , You have free youtube lessons ( youtube just seems to be the solution to everything ) an amateur guitar school in every sector. Just stop being lazy !! You have so many things to choose from vocaling, emceeing to guitars ,drums not to forget the indian instruments such tabla, harmonium (though the western ones look cooler but trust me indian instruments can be a lot of fun ) and with the summer break around the block it makes a great pass-time too!!