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Edison Community College...
Music and
Its Role in Art and the Humanities
By Kirsti
Pickering
November
18, 2011
Humanities
121, Edison Community College
About this
article… see editor’s note below
On nearly
any topic, I myself tend to understand the more personal and emotional
levels
of things as opposed to their literal aspects; this same concept is
true when
it comes to the topic of music.
According to the literature I understand
The Subject Matter of Music
(Martin and Jacobus 250) and less of The Elements of Music (245). I can grasp the concepts
of emotion, mood, as
well as the passion I experience from listening to different types of
music; on
the contrary, if I were asked to explain the harmony, melody or
dynamics of
music, I would be at a loss for words.
The Subject
Matter of Music is composed of feelings; this includes emotions,
passions and
moods (250). This
aspect of the study of
music is the side that I am far more inclined to understand and overall
relate
to. I believe that
it is simpler to
understand because music has the ability to educate individuals’
emotional
lives, as opposed to purely educating individuals on a literal level. In the pure education of
music, there is no
depth, there is no attachment to the beauty that music can evoke from
an
individual, and overall it does not allow a person to truly enjoy music
just
for what it is, and what it does to them.
This aspect of music is the true meaning
behind it, and although the education
of The Elements of Music (245) may be necessary, it is not what makes
music. Without the
feelings that music
evokes deep within a person, it is merely empty rhythms and meaningless
words
maintaining a constant beat.
Music is
greatly appreciated as a society’s whole, and in turn is a study of the
Humanities. The
Elements of Music (245)
as well as The Subject Matter of Music (250) are crucial to music as it
relates
to the study of Humanities. As
music is
an elaborately subjective subject, it also questions individuals’
values; these
two aspects, being subjective and evaluating values, of music are
directly
connected to the study of Humanities.
Different music styles and techniques
affect these aspects as well as
what will be studied in the future of Humanities.
Music, in its literal as well as
emotional
aspects, directly relates to the study of Humanities by questioning the
values
of individuals, as well as allowing them to discover the great power of
emotion
that the beautiful study of music can bring out from a person. Although The Elements of
Music are the
literal make-up of music, it is the Subject Matter of Music that truly
makes
music what it is: the invisible insight into our feelings through the
combination
of sound, rhythm, and lyrics.
Works
Cited: Martin, F. David, and Lee A. Jacobus. The Humanities Through The
Arts:
Eighth Edition. NY:
McGraw
Hill, 2011. Print.
Editor’s note: Last fall I taught “Art in
the Humanities,” an introductory level course at the Edison Darke
County
Campus. Among the many projects the students addressed were different
forms of
art, from painting, television and music, to visits to DCCA events,
Bears Mill,
Garst Museum and Shawnee Prairie. The purpose was to discuss their
evaluation
of how the assignments related to “art” and/or the “humanities.” Some
of the
best reports are being presented, with the student’s permission, on
County News
Online. The opinions expressed in these reports have not been altered
in any
manner.
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