Music: The Universal Language

Being a music student of piano and flute has taught me much about what I know today. I have recently finished school as a music BA major, and am looking at what to do next. I have played since I can remember, and it has been thoroughly rewarding. Music is truly a universal language. Forget about the words of any song, but just think about the notes. Everyone learning music reads the same black printed notes, and they all sound the same. If you are a musician, or have an ear for music, you know what middle C sounds like when you hit the note.

According to the article written by Sapan Shah at http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/1-24-2005-64674.asp, music consisted of seven main notes. There are seven notes in a white key scale and seven notes in mostly black key scale. (That was obviously said in piano terms!) Everybody knows, or can learn what these notes are, and it is all the same. Perhaps it is not said the same way, but you hear it the same. A to us, sounds like a to a person in another country as well.

Even if the nature of the music is different, we all hear it as music. We can tell that it is a melody of some sort. When it is a vocal solo in another language, you don't necessarily understand the language being sung, but you can pick out the melody. You may even find yourself humming it afterwards, especially if you liked it.

Also, we can think of music in grammar terms of any language. No matter what style of music you play or sing, you have a phrase. A phrase makes up a big part of any spoken sentence. A phrase in music is the beginning of the melody line that reaches the end of the melody with a definite conclusion. The musical phrase produces a musical idea, which thus produces a musical sentence.

Music can also convey feelings. Have you ever heard a song that made you happy, sad, or unwanted? The mood of the music can play a very important part in the way you feel the rest of the day. Sometimes a song might come up on the radio you'll hear it, and maybe it is extremely annoying to you. You could end up with an irritable mood that day, just because of the music! If you are angry that day, you may want to play a piece that would let out that anger. People would respond to that by knowing that's the type of music that you play when you are angry. They will know to stay out of your hair then, if they hear you playing it.

To sum it up, music is a universal language because it can be understood any kind of person. It is also universal in that it has the phrase, idea, and sentence. Plus, it can effect the mood of your day.