Sound

By Anonymous -
Natural History of the Senses- SOUND

According to the author, music speaks to us so powerfully that many

musicians and theorists think it may be an actual language, one that developed

about the same time as speech.  There are actually a lot of similarities between

music and language that make his claim reasonable.  For one, music is learned

through many of the same processes as language.  When someone is in the process

of learning new music, they practice sounding out the words while listening to the

distinct tones.  Furthermore, repetition is a very effective way to learn music and

memorize it.  As well all know, repetition is beneficial to us when we are trying to

learn a new word or memorize a phrase.  In these specific ways, I would definitely

consider music a language.

Also, unlike any other language, music is universal.  I remember countless

times at concerts singing and dancing to the same song as people from all over the

world speaking all sorts of languages.  Although I am unable to understand what

they are saying, we are still enjoying the same experience through music and

understanding the same language in that sense.  Music is a wonderful opportunity to

unite people from all cultures, backgrounds, and languages.  This way, we are all

able to share our love for the language of music.  Here is an article that describes

how our brains see music as language.

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/02/how-brains-see-music-as-

language/283936/

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