The fad that never passed.

Started a long time ago, the thing called 'music' continues today. But what exactly is it? Why is it so popular? And why to people spend ghastly amounts of money to go to hot, stuffy, concerts with poor sound, and weird strangers pressed up againstevery part of your person.

"What is that awful noise?!"

Music is different sound waves that have harmonized through whatever medium they are passing, usually the air. The different sound waves are produced by the instruments, and they mix into what we call 'music'.

If that is what music was, banging randomly on pots and blowing through a kazoo would be considered music. But one thing, what majorly constitues 'music' is when the sound wavesare on the same frequency, and they mix in one sound that is pleasing to the ear. This 'same frequency' effect is usually achieved by tuning instruments (thus changing their pitch, and sometimes frequency).

The types, there are a'many.

Humans love to catagorize. And music is one of those things that is massively organzied, catagorized, and catalouged. Music with a lot of drums and guitars is usually called 'rock'. Music with an overbearing drums and guitars and loud vocals is usually referred to as 'heavy metal'. 'Rock' with trumpets, trombones, and other types of horns is called 'ska'. There is a type of music that border lines ska and rock, it is called contemporary.

Watching what type of music is popular is a fun pastime. For decades, rock was what music was all about. Then ska became very big, with bands like Five Iron Frenzy and the Insyders making ska popular witrh their rock/ska/heavy metal songs. Contemporary then made a comeback, and slowly pushed ska from the limelight.

Music from ancient times (usually sixteenth to seventeenth centuries) is usually catagorized as 'classical' music. Composers such as Bach, Beetoven, and Mozart are are thought of as the epitomy of classical music. An interesting and modern from of classical is called 'classical rock'. This is old classical music that has been 'moderinized', guitars, keyboards, and drums are usually added.

Even though it shouldn't have it's own category, it does. Disco, That music from the seventies. During the seventies, when disco was popular, their were two types of people. The disco-loving people, and the people who proclaimed 'death before disco'. Disco is generally rock, but with a constant, and simple drumbeat. In disco, the lyrics often repeat, and just about every verse is the same as the last. That is definately true with the chours'.

Why is it popular?

In the words of Toby McKeenan of the rap/rock group DC Talk, "music can say things words never could". Music touches people with the turns of it's tunes, the instruments invoke sentilmentalism, the lyrics touch people's feelings. Music can be just waky fun, can have a serious message, or could even tell a story. In 'musicals' (movies or plays with lots of songs) songs are used to forwardand enhance the characters and the plots.

Why it will remain so

As long as people have feelings, and enjoy a complex art form, music will continue. It is art, and complex art, but a very satisfying one. Music followes the moods and swings of the present generation, and that is why it will always be around.