According to the World English Dictionary, music is an art form consisting of sequences of sounds in time, especially tones of definite pitch organized melodically, rhythmically, and according to tone color.
I define music more broadly. Music is skillfully produced sounds that communicate.
There are three main components in my definition of music: skill, sound, and communication.
The most obvious of these is sound. Music is a unique art-form in that one does not need eyes to appreciate its beauty.
The question arises though, what types of sound constitute ‘music’? This is where skill and communication come in. Both of these terms are somewhat subjective. This is why what is music to one person may just be noise to another.
Some sounds we know are not produced skillfully, such as the creaking of a door, or the crinkling of paper. Some sounds we instinctively associate with a high level of skill, such as a classical symphony, or an opera solo. However, there is a lot of gray area in between.
One important aspect of skill is intentionality. Thus, sound that is not produced with intention cannot be music. It is impossible to accidentally produce music.
Communication is difficult to define, since all sounds communicate something. Also, I am not interested in lyrics. However, music has the unique ability to directly communicate emotion: anger, sadness, joy, laughter, angst, etc.
So, we can begin to classify something as being music or not. For example, John Cage’s 4’33”, which is just 4 minutes and 33 seconds of silence, is not music, since no sound is produced. When a toddler bangs randomly on a piano, that is not music because no skill is involved. It is also doubtful if this communicates anything, except perhaps aggravation.
My definition of music would also make some of the academic music being written today invalid as being called music, since it is written without any purpose of communicating anything, and though the notes are intentionally chosen and the piece is skillfully performed, no emotion is ever felt by the listener. I would also put a lot of 12-tone music in this category.
Having read your other music post first, I can’t help but ask….would you consider a whining toddler musical? Because they produce intentional sound that communicates a concept and often do it with such skill that even a discerning listener will succumb to its power and be moved to action.
I tend to think of the whines a toddler makes as more instinctive than intentional, so I would tend to think this would not be music. However, the point should be made that not all music is enjoyable. For example, I really do not enjoy hard rock, even though I don’t deny that it is music.