Music Is

The definition of music has been under scrutiny for thousands of years. But who can define infinity? Music, like infinity, has no visible bounds and therefore no natural definition. However, I will attempt to define some of the things that music is not, as well as some of the things that it is, in order to better understand this phenomenon. That it is a phenomenon must be agreed upon at the outset because if we begin by saying that music is a thing, a sound or an emotion, then we have finished. My definition is based on the presumption that music is not just a thing but an essence beyond description yet not beyond our ability to be affected by it. Like something magical, it exists even though we do not understand it.

Music is not sound and silence in time. This is the standard text book definition of music found worldwide and my answer to it is, NO! This is not music. If that definition were true then ALL sound and silence would be music. Music does occasionally have sound and silence, but not always. For instance, I have seen great paintings that were music to my eyes. They resonated with my inner being and touched my soul. That kind of music is not present in every painting, only in some. Thus, sound and painting are not music, but they can have music in them. Sometimes a work of music or art has music inside of it but the listener/viewer is deaf or blind and cannot see nor hear it. Sensitive teachers who are not interested in 'everyone else's opinion' can sometimes open the door for students to learn this kind of skill but this is rare indeed!

Music is not defined by opinion. There are a lot of interesting definition's of 'God' out there but opinions about God do not make Him who He is. Music also is not defined by narrow, changeable public opinion. According to recent research some sound can become addictive. Some sounds actually have the power to physically destroy us and others can heal us. But music transcends sound. Like living creatures who when they die lose a certain something invisible, we then sense it's absence, so music is a thing sensed, if only by it's absence. That certain something is not subject to opinion. It just is.

Music is not hard work and practice. Although there are some who have worked hard and practiced who do produce music, there are also some who, though they have mastered the skills and techniques of note playing, still lack that quality I call music. Music does not come with practice. Notes, proficiency, fame or applause all can be gained with practice but music is not acquired nor understood in this way. Because it cannot be obtained through practice, most performers do not have it. So, to cover up the fact that the music is absent, they practice more. Their proficiency becomes so amazing that people stand in awe at their ability. But they are acrobats, not musicians.

There is one thing that seems most like music in this world but it is as indescribable as music. Love comes closest to the actual meaning of music as I understand it. I could make a long list of things that love is not but one thing that love is, is filling. That may sound like a strange word to use, but that is what I mean. When you feel love it makes you full. When you do not feel love you feel empty. When I hear music I feel full and when it is absent I feel empty. I mentioned earlier that great art can have music. But there are also many other things in which I find music that would not fall under a traditional definition. In dancing, human relationships, faith, nature and drama I have seen, heard and felt music on many occasions. Music is illusive as light, as unfathomable as space and as transcendent as eternity. And yet we have it. Sometimes we have it only in little glimpses like when a special little child has a smile just for you, or when a sunset makes you cry, or when you love someone so much that you would give your life for them. That is music. All that other stuff is just a cheap counterfeit that isn't worth the paper it's printed on.