Musical Music
What is it that gives music it’s quality? When we listen to noises many of us can differentiate sound from what is intended to be music, but why is that? What gives music it’s musical quality?
As it turns out music is comprised of a multitude of things Let’s start with the pitch. A pitch is how high or low a tone is. The fluctuation of a pitch, particularly if it is in a regular or predictable manner can give something a musical quality. Take the sentence “I love my family” for example you can say it, or you can sing it. If you sing it chances are the pitch may be altered to sound more musical, though this is not always the case.
Next, let’s look at loudness. Loudness the determining factor that sounds on our sensory perception. Music can be loud or quiet, however, this is a quality of music that cannot be overlooked. Loud sounds tend to excite people and typically certain songs are played louder than others. Perhaps there is an association between loudness and the types of songs that are played.
Lastly, there is timbre this is the quality of the note. To help paint a picture imagine timber as the specific colors of a painting, and the entire painting is the whole song itself. The colors add to the image but one color alone (without any variation) is rarely regarded as art. But together a beautiful painting is formed. It is important to note that like paintings too much of one thing can be bad. If you add too many sounds then your ‘song’ may just be ‘noise’ you need balance;
Each of these elements forms music and they each serve a different purpose. In the words of Aristotle “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” Alone the individual components of music are weak, but together they are strong.