Sound as the Basic Property of All Music - Essay Example

The Basic Property of all Music is Sound It is undeniable that the most basic property of music is sound. Without sound, music would never have existed in the first place. Most of the things that are used to determine the quality of music are actually aspects of sound. Despite the fact that music has other properties such as lyrics and theme, if you withdraw the aspects that are attached to sound whatever will be remaining will not qualify as music. In fact, most dictionaries define music to be a combination of instrumental and vocal sounds. This implies that without the vocal and instrumental sounds, there will also be no music. There is a big similarity in the way the quality of music and the quality of sound are always judged. Just like sound, music can also be pleasant or unpleasant depending on the audience. Sound is usually a result of vibration of an object, for instance, a guitar string being plucked. After the sound is produced, its transition usually takes place through a medium, which is in most cases the air. It is in the human ears that the sound causes a vibration of the eardrum leading to the creation of impulses which are then transmitted to the brain. It is in the brain that the sound is judged as pleasant or unpleasant. The same process will take place for music only that in judging of quality of music the brain will us other content values such as rhyme and lyrical content (Graham 186). To prove just how much sound is important, it will be good to look at those factors that are always used to determine whether a song is of good quality or not. One of these factors is pitch. The pitch of sound refers to whether a sound is heard to be low or high. The difference in the pitch of sound is always brought about by the difference in the frequency of vibration of the object producing the sound. Fast vibrations usually produce higher pitches while the slow ones produce lower pitches. Pitch is always measured in cycle in each second. In terms of music, tone is the term normally used to refer the definite pitch. Tones usually have specific frequency. Tones have regular vibrations and always get to the ear at equal intervals. When tones have different pitches they usually end up having different sounds. This nature of sound makes it and the importance of music in general. With the knowledge of the difference between the highest and the lowest tones of sound, also called rage, musicians can also manipulate the outcome of the music. This implies that knowledge of pitch as a property of sound is very important if at all the musicians have to produce meaningful and attractive music. Another property of sound that is very important in music is its dynamics. Dynamics of a sound refers to the extent to which music is loud or soft. When a particle of object vibrate, they usually vibrate at different amplitudes. The difference in amplitude is what usually results in a difference in loudness. This means that the higher the amplitude the louder the sound. This nature of sound usually enables musicians to control the loudness or softness of the music that they play. The dynamics of sound can always change as a result of a change in loudness or softness of musical instrument being played. Dynamics can also be altered as a result of the number of music instruments being played. This is usually done gradually or suddenly depending on the effect that the musicians want the change in dynamics to have on the music that they are doing. The process of gradual increase in loudness is usually referred to as crescendo while the gradual decrease in music loudness is usually referred to as decrescendo. It is always easy to tell the difference between different musical instruments event if they are being played at the same time, dynamic level, and tone. What makes it easier for this differentiation to exist is a property of sound known as tone color. A sound’s tone color can always be described as either dark, bright, brilliant, rich, or mellow. When two instruments are played with the same melody there is always a difference in the expressive influence because of the difference in the tone color of each instrument. This aspect of sound usually makes it easier for musicians to use different musical instruments to present different moods and emotions (Born 213). For instance, trumpets can be used in expressing a heroic mood while a flute can be used to express a calm mood. This property of sound gives music the ability and magic of being able to express emotions. In the process of explaining the importance of sound to music it will be important to look at aspects of music such as meter, beat, tempo, and accent and syncopation. The term beat is usually used with reference to recurring pulse that usually split music into equal time units. Basically, it is always the sound aspect of music that is being split. When the beats are arranged into regular sets they are always referred to as meter (Sexton 175).Tempo refers to the general speed of beats in music. The tempo is responsible for setting the pace of the music. This implies that the beats also being forms of sound also influence the pace aspect of music. Tempo is also responsible for setting the mood of a song or music piece. For instance, a slow tempo can always be used to express a calm or serious mood. Melody is the most memorable part of music. Melody is a term used in reference to a series of tone that usually sum up to make an identifiable unit. A melody has a beginning, movement, and an ending. Melodies have pitches with up and down movements which perform the purpose of conveying release and tension. Melodies can move either through small or large intervals. The small ones are called steps while the large ones are known as leaps. The difference between the highest and the lowest tone in a melody is always referred to as a range. Instrumental melodies usually have wider range as compared to the vocal ones. The manners in which the melodies are played usually bring a difference in their effect to the listeners. Melodies can also form the theme of the music when they start at the beginning of music and stretches throughout the whole process as it goes through a number of changes. Chords are a very important part of music. In music chord is a term used in reference to a minimum of three tones that are sounded at the same time. Therefore, a chord can be simply defined as a collection of simultaneous tones. There are chords that are considered to be restless and stable while others are known to be tense and unstable. When a chord is a combination of stable tones they are consonance. Consonance usually occurs at points of rest, resolution, and arrival. A chord is a dissonance if it is a combination of unstable tones. Musicians can always create a scene of drama or suspense when they either delay a resolution or bring it at an expected time. Resolution is the point at which dissonance makes a movement to a consonance (Graham 111). Through this kind of playing with sound musicians are able to make their music more interesting rather than being easily predictable. The key of sound used in music can also influence the quality of music. The key is usually used with reference to a central note, scale, and chord. Key can be used in reference to the availability of a central note, chord, and scale in a musical piece. Much of the music that is composed nowadays is always built around the key. Basically what makes melodies memorable is that fact they are built around keys. Change in keys which is known as modulation usually makes music more fun. However, in most cases modulation usually take place subconsciously. This implies that at the end of the day the key controls the melody of the music and when changed intelligently can make a difference that will definitely bring a whole new difference to the whole music. With all the explanation given herein it will be logical to conclude that the most basic property of music is sound. The above discussed properties of music clear have an influence of what music. As seen through this paper sound can influence the pace, the mood, and the emissionsthatare expressed by music. Sound can also influence the continuity of music. Sound also affects other aspects of sound such as loudness, memorability, and sensation that is caused by music to those who listen. Try imagining music without the presence of sound and you will be imagining of something else. This does not imply that music is actually just sound or that all sound can be music. However, the thing is that sound makes a pivotal part of music if made in a way that is pleasant. Work cited Bakan, Michael B. World Music: Traditions and Transformations. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2007. Print. Born, Georgina. Music, Sound and Space: Transformations of Public and Private Experience. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013. Print. Graham, Ian. Music & Sound. Woodbury, N.Y: Barrons Educational Series, 2000. Print. Sexton, Jamie. Music, Sound and Multimedia: From the Live to the Virtual. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007. Print. Read More