Philosophy of music is the study of music, its nature, and our experience of it. According to Stephen Davies, philosophy of music studies various questions like how music expresses emotions and what is distinctive to the listener’s response to this expressiveness; the modes of perception and understanding that can be expected of skilled listeners, performers, analysts, and composers and the various manners in which this understanding can be manifest; the manner in which musical works exists and their relation to their instances or performances; and musical profundity. A definition of music can be different from person to person. For one person, music can be a source of inspiration in his everyday life; while for other, music can be a friend in a tragic period. In the contemporary world, undoubtedly, song is the most common kind of music listened to. American Heritage Dictionary defines music as the art of arranging sound in time so as to produce a continuous, unified, and evocative composition, as through melody, harmony, rhythm, and timbre. In simple words, music can be defined as the combination of structured sound. But, all the structured sounds do not form music, such as human speech, sounds of animals, and sounds of machines. Since categorizing music as structured sound became too broad, philosophers added two further kinds of necessary conditions in order to adjust the initial idea. One is an appeal to musical features such as pitch and rhythm ( Scruton 1-79; Hamilton 40-65; Kania 2011). Another is an appeal to aesthetic properties or experience (Levinson 1990; Scruton 1-96; Hamilton 40-65). One can support either of this conditions or both. Thus, philosophers and musicologist consider organization a necessary but not sufficient condition for a set of sounds to be musical. It is said that music has the power to change life, to evoke emotions, and to act like a fuel which can ignite energy in a person. Music can change the mood of a person from sad to happy. Philosophers say that music has the power to calm a stressed-out person or help someone get over an illness, to transport one into the realm of imagination, and to make one focus better which helps to perform well in competition. Music can be any sound that is enjoyable and makes one feel better. Whether it be a piece composed by beating machinery instruments each other by Tribal African group, or it be a piece made up of piano, guitar and drums by American pop composers, both are considered music. Collins English Dictionary defines music as an art form characteristic of a particular people, culture, or tradition. Different parts of world have different types of music which defines their identity, such as Indian music defines Indian culture and western music defines American culture.

There are different purposes of music, depending upon the composer’s and the listener’s desire. According to the great composer Stravinsky, the phenomenon of music is given to us with the sole purpose of establishing an order in things, including, and particularly, the co-ordination between man and time. Besides entertainment, music plays an important role in human’s life. Music can mark a point in history or create it. It has served as form of expression for many years. For example, Religious music is used to set a devotional mood, for invocation, or to focus the congregation on the spiritual life. It makes you believe in your religion, believe in god, believe in Allah, believe in Jesus, or whatever religion you follow. Music is most widely used in the world for the purpose of entertainment. Various singers, composers and bands perform concerts and live performances which are meant for entertainment. Such types of programs allow listeners to come out of their busy life and enjoy for some time. On other cases, music is used to communicate certain message, preserve cultural tradition, tell a story, express great power and religion, and illustrate drama. Other specific example of musical purpose is to heal a sorrow. Certain music is made to keep one’s mood high during sad condition by relaxing one’s soul and spirit. Music is also used to worship, motivate, pass time, maintain life-cycle rituals, work, educate, control, express one’s identity, protest, and unite. While some songs are meant to encourage people to go beyond their comfort zone to achieve success in life, others are made to unite all citizens during a hardship of a country. Another use of music is to accompany dance. It is a rare scene where there is a dance without music. Music videos use songs to accompany dance in the video. Often, music is used to enhance parties, weddings, sports, festival, and other social events. Ambient music is usually played at low volumes, which is often meant to be relaxing. Moreover, music is used to enhance and make any activity interesting and enjoyable. Basically, everything has music and each piece of music has some purpose.

It is really hard to imagine life without music. For many people, music is a way of living life, it is as important as oxygen to keep us moving forward. Music is one of the most creative and popular vehicles for expressing our thoughts, emotions, and feeling. Music makes us feel lively; it makes us feel we aren’t alone. Friedrich Nietzsche once said, “Without music, life would be a mistake". This statement clearly depicts the importance of music in a person’s life. Music is regarded as the universal language that unites people. Without music, there would be no existence of different types of cultures and bond between them. Without music, there would be no way to express one and hence life would be monotonous and dull. Any form of entertainment like dance, movies, and TV shows would be less enjoyable without music. We cannot even imagine parties and celebrations without music. Simply, music is a part of everything we do and everything would go boring if there was no music. Since music is a natural healer and used in many forms of therapy, there would be even more suffering in the world without music. Musical rhythms have the ability to change the adrenaline levels and heart rate of a person. Without music, people would have less energy to do work. It’s hard to imagine a gym and a cleaning work without music. It is easier to work with music because it energizes and motivates us.

Music of one place depicts the culture of that place. Since the traditions, beliefs, and customs of different culture differ from one another, music also differs between cultures. Culture is a vast topic and basically it defines ethnicity, origin, religion and language. For example, Jazz music was born in America and it depicts the western culture. Western culture is different than that of eastern and so is the taste of music. Pop and rock music is popular in American culture whereas Folk and classical music is popular in Indian culture. For example, a folk Indian music depicts Indian culture, their lifestyle, their problem, and their happiness. It is said that music is a Universal language and it can unite two or more cultures. The notation of musical notes, beats, and chords is same throughout the world. In general, two people who have same taste of music usually tend to be good friends. Music can act as a bond or linkage between two people to share their ideas and thoughts. A rush of emotion brought up by music when shared between two people makes them more comfortable to each other. A song which can make a Chinese happy can also make an American happy, though he doesn’t understand the language. A good example to explain the universality of music is a popular Korean song called ‘Gangnam Style’ from 2012. It was sung by Korean pop singer PSY. This Korean song, which describes the lifestyle associated with the Gangnam district of Korea, surpassed all the previous records and became the most watched video on YouTube. Although the song is sung in Korean language, it became popular all over the world. No one but Korean could only understand the meaning of the song, but the whole world enjoyed and danced in ‘Gangnam Style’.

Music definitely teaches lessons in life. It helps to explore our freedom of expression. What one creates in mind and plays that in an instrument is his or her emotion. Music can make one into someone that he or she wants to become. Music teaches us to be happy and joyful in life. Learning to play musical instrument takes a lot of effort and time. One has to really work hard to learn to play music. Thus, music in life, teaches us that we should work hard to gain something in life, whether it is studying hard during your college or it is working for best in your office. Music is what keeps life from being silent. It teaches us to be active and happy. In general, it can teach many lessons to a person. Music helps to develop logic, perception, memorization, expression of self, etc. If you are in band, you learn discipline, responsibility, and cooperation with other. Music can teach a person about love, heartbreak, and pain.

Music is a form and an expression of language. Musical composers mainly express their inner feelings in their music. Those words which could not be explicitly said through voice could be expressed through music. A piece of music can express various state of emotion like happiness and sadness. Musical pieces with higher tempos are more likely to be classified as happy and songs with low tempos are classified as scared or fearful. Listening different types of music affects one’s mood. For me, music helps to improve mood. Whenever I am slogging through a busy day at school, forcing myself through a tough workout, or trying to motivate myself to mop the floor, listening to music will immensely help me increase my mood. Listening to rock and pop music during party time boost my energy to come down and dance. Music helps me pass time during vacation and boring days. I always remember back my country whenever I listen to national songs. Thus, music affects my mood differently depending upon time and the type of music I am listening to. I listen to music quiet often, almost everyday. Especially, I listen to music during evening and in between the classes during day. I always keep speakers on when I go to bed and I fall asleep with the music playing on. I, along with my friends, listen to rock music whenever they visit to me. I listen to almost every type of music. I listen to western pop music, Indian classical music, Nepalese folk music, and different cultural music. My favorite singers are Bryan Adams, Michael Jackson, George Harrison, David Archuleta, Sonu Nigam, Ram Krishna Dhakal, etc. And my favorite musical bands are Linkin Park , Greenday, Metallica, etc. I love to listen to slow rocks of MLTR.

Music is connected to our brain and emotion. Music stimulates various parts of brain, making it an effective mood-altering tool. Music’s rhythm, meter, pitch, and timbre are processed in various parts of brain. Music of soothing type decreases stress, by lowering the stress hormone cortisol. Music that has upbeat dance helps to boosts immune system by releasing endorphins and healing hormones. Rhythmic music can be used for the purposes of medication. Music is very good at promoting self-soothing, decreasing anxiety and fatigue, and increasing spiritual experience.

Works Cited

1. Rentfrow, Peter J. "The Role Of Music In Everyday Life: Current Directions In The Social Psychology Of Music." Social & Personality Psychology Compass 6.5 (2012): 402-416. Academic Search Complete. Web. 26 Nov. 2013.
2. Perry , John, and Ken Taylor. "The Philosophy of music."The Philosophy Talk. Ben Manilla Productions, 19 Sept 2006. Web. 26 Nov 2013. .
3. Kania, Andrew, "The Philosophy of Music", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2012 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.) .
4. Davies, Stephen. "Musical Understandings and Other Essays on the Philosophy of Music." Oxford University Press. N.p., 25 August 2011. Web. 26 Nov 2013.
5. "music." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. 2003. Houghton Mifflin Company 26 Nov. 2013 <http://www.thefreedictionary.com/music>