The Various Theories of Music

News Oct 1, 2021

Music is the science of arranging sounds in harmony to create a melody through the various components of melody, rhythm, harmony, and melodic timbre. It is one of the most universal artistic aspects of all human cultures. Music has been a central feature of almost every society since ancient times and continues to influence our culture in all walks of life.

MUSIC

Music is an ever evolving field. Much of what we think of as music today was not even heard in the songs performed by Beethoven or Brahms a hundred years ago. The definition of music is a general term that embraces many genres and types. Today it is a complicated field involving many different approaches to music.

Many composers consider themselves “inventors” of new styles of music. John Tyndall claimed that he invented the “new style” of English choruses. George Szabo claims credit for the “new grammar of notes” based on polyphonic scales. Stanislavsky considered himself the creator of “polyphonic tone.”

One must take a more traditional view of music history if one wants to find a comprehensive definition of music. According to leading scholars such as Basil Rubashchek, John Pilsworth, and Richard Wagner, music is the manifestation of creative human emotion and artistic expression. According to the influential musicologist Paul Lossing, music theory is the study of how different styles of music are related and the role they play in the creation of culture.

A major breakthrough in the study of music occurred with the development of “synthesis.” This technology allowed the introduction of two separate elements into one another, thus producing an entire new musical genre. synthesizers, like the ones in the Yamaha keyboard synthesizer of today, allowed music to be built and recorded using only one component. Furthermore, Michael Winnich developed the tonal organization technique that is now used in many schools of composition. In this method of composing, Winnich and other composers discovered the importance of the tonal balance that can dominate or even destroy the central theme in a work of music.

The present day problems faced by musicians and music historians are primarily due to the decline of classical music in our popular culture. As people move from one music form to another, we have lost the ability to appreciate the great composers of the past, especially in their works from genres that have become extinct over the years. Moreover, contemporary music, in the broadest sense, has developed so that it is incapable of having a natural “aura,” which makes listening to it seem mysterious and magical. It is becoming more difficult and frustrating to distinguish between genuine artistic expressions and contrived performances. Therefore, theories of music cannot fully describe the process of creating it.