What is the nature of music and its effect on the auditor? What is the composer trying to convey? For most of us unmusical types music is ear-candy or noise, and the bits in between. Usually we know what we like, or don't like, when we hear it¹, but can't say why exactly. It is the why and the wherefore that are interesting questions to ask about music, questions in need of plain answers without descending into esoteric criticism.

What is Music

Music is stimulation of the auditory senses by sound produced by various instruments of vibration. Belching and farting produces audio vibrations yet they are vibrations unlikely to be stimulating to the mind; unless the wind instrument is possessed of a well-tempered sphincter, it is just cacophony. To be musical, the sound must be capable of harmony, which is achieved by tuning the instruments to produce particular vibrations from the audio spectrum of possible sounds, within the commonly accepted scales, modes, and rhythmical schemes. In other words the sounds must conform to the rules evolved since the dawn of human history. Thus the composer works within these rules, sometimes breaking them in order to speak to the audience.

What Music Conveys

Principally, music plays upon our emotions, creating and releasing tension within our minds. Like poetry, music tries to recreate emotions in the listener. Music is utterly non-verbal². It attempts to connect with the non-verbal parts of our minds. In general, music is designed to uplift the listener, enriching one's existence. It can make listeners want to laugh, cry, and dance; it leads armies to war; it celebrates triumphs, mourns defeats; it can be a cerebral pleasure inducing a tingle to the skin and prickle to the scalp. Music is a strange thing that began when someone first started banging rocks together and discovered rhythm.