According to an entry on Dictionary.com, language can be defined as “communication of meaning in any way; medium that is expressive, significant, etc.: the language of flowers; the language of art” (dictionary.com). According to the definition that was provided, music can be considered a language as it is a form of communication and it is a very expressive medium. Although music has no words, it can still convey basic human emotions that can be interpreted by anyone. Although some may say that music is subjective to opinion, spoken or written forms of communication can be subjected as well. For example, one person may take a sample of music to be very happy, while another person may believe it to be angry or sad. In spoken communication, the inflection of one’s voice may present an emotion different from the one that was intended. Many people believe words are necessary to create a language, yet we have body language and sign language, which require no words. Body language is a prime example of a wordless language. Through the movement of our hands, legs, and body, one can determine the emotions that are portrayed and the needs and wants of the communicator. Music, just like body language, does not need spoken words in order to communicate and can be considered a language. In Walt Disney’s Fantasia, and its remake Fantasia 2000, the combination of classical music and visuals create the opportunity to communicate effectively and “ask for the salt”. Even without the visuals, music creates opportunities to communicate emotions effectively through tempo, rhythm, and key, thus music is a language.
The original thought in music does count, although it difficult on who is accredited with being the artist. Without the original thought, there would be no variety in interpretations of the music itself. When determining artist, nowadays it can be either the originator of the notes or it can be the specific performer. When discussing classical music (and sometimes jazz), many consider the composer as the original artists, while orchestras and bands that do their own interpretations are simply considered performers. With most modern music, including those who work in the pop industry, many of today’s youth consider the person who actually performs as the artist and not necessarily the people who helped create the music or lyrics. A recent example of this comes from the world pop. The title of artist for the song Airplanes is attributed to musician B.o.B featuring Haley Williams, yet no one realizes that the music and chorus were written by Kinetics & One Love, a musical duo who currently are attending Cornell University. Although Kinetics & One Love had the original thought, the artist if the original performer in this case. As a result, the originator and the interpreter are not always the artist if they are not the same being.
-Cynthia Perez
Nice Post. If you are not interested in cod forming and semiotics, you can simply think of language as a set of cods that are shared by more then one individual. It is also a concrete term with definite meanings, within the field of linguistics (Noam Chomsky’s A Generative Theory of Language, for instance). Music theorists who have drawn on Chomsky’s work including the composers and teachers Leonard Bernstein and Fred Lerdahl among others, (The “Unanswered Question” lectures 1 and 2) see a few aspect of language manifested in the evolution of music making .