Music is a form of art that has been used to convey emotions and ideas. It can make people cry, laugh, and feel happy. It can even help people concentrate. There are many different genres of music such as Rock and Roll, Rhythm and Blues, Hip Hop, Pop, Heavy Metal, Psychedelia, Jazz, Classical, and Electronic. Each genre has its own characteristics but can all be good. For example, pop is usually on the radio and has a catchy tune, while R&B has a meaningful message and soulful lyrics. Hip hop has a beat and rhyme that catches the attention of teenagers. Rappers like 2Pac and Lauryn Hill made this genre popular. Jazz has over forty sub genres and is often accompanied by vocals. Some of the famous songs are What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong and Fly Me to the Moon by Count Basie.
There are also many different types of instruments that can be used to make music. The most common instrument is the piano, although guitars, drums, and violins are also widely used. The first musical instrument was the human voice. The ancient Greeks used to sing to communicate, and the Romans also improvised songs. Other people have created their own instruments, such as the harp and flute. Animals may also use music to communicate. Songbirds sing to attract mates and protect their territory. Monkeys have been seen beating on hollow logs to make a sound.
The study of music has developed a vast vocabulary to describe its components, such as tones and intervals. These terms can be difficult to understand if one is not familiar with the subject. There are also specialized terms to describe the performance of music, such as tempo and rhythm. Musicologists often draw upon the writings of other languages, particularly Latin and German, to describe the music they have studied.
There is much debate about what constitutes music. Some of the early philosophers, such as Plato and Pythagoreans, considered it a branch of mathematics. The Greeks advanced the study of acoustics, discovering that individual tones corresponded to specific lengths of strings. But they did not succeed in calculating pitch on the basis of vibrations of a string.
In contrast, the Epicureans and Stoics gave considerable credit to human listeners and their powers of perception. They denigrated the dominance of mathematical considerations. They prescribed temperate rhythms and simple melodies to prevent music from producing imaginative, exciting, and immoral effects.
Moreover, they gave greater emphasis to sensation, and to a more naturalistic view of the relationship between sound and emotion. They emphasized that the essence of music is not to be found in any particular tone, but in a special interaction between a person and the sounding object. The concept of a special shared experience is called phenomenology. This concept is important to understanding music. It is also the basis for a number of philosophical and psychological theories.