1. Is Music a Language? Jenna DiFrancesco Tasha Wells
2. Music as a Universal Language Music is available to people around the world People, no matter what culture, can read the same piece of music Influences from various cultures can be seen all around the world We can see linguistic trends in both music that musicians read and people listen to everyday on the radio
4. 9 Characteristics of Language Mode of Communication Notes provide a way for different musicians to say various different messages Notes range from C to C in different octaves Can be held to different lengths Can be changes to sharp and flat to change pitch and meaning
5. 9 Characteristics of Language Semantic Songs have a distinctive ability to reach a variety of people on many different levels Pragmatic Effective in both transmitting a meaningful message and sending and receiving a message Interchangeability Sends and receives a message to people by the words in the song and the emotions in the music
6. 9 Characteristics of Language Cultural Transmission Each country has their own form of music from religious to pop Also, countries borrow music from one another
8. Music has 9 Characteristics to be a Language Arbitrariness The notes do not directly stand for the direct sound they make Discreetness Musical songs or phrases are built of notes Displacement Clearly affected by place in time and spaces between notes Productivity Has the ability to create infinite series of musical phrases in any type of combination
10. A Few Musical Terms Tempo How fast or slow the song goes Key Signature Changes whether a specific note is flat or sharp for the duration of the piece Accidental Changes the note to flat or sharp for that measure of music Measure One specific bar of music Octave A series of 8 notes that start and end with the same note all in ascending or descending order Dynamics How loud or soft to play a section of the piece
11. LANGUAGE AND MUSIC LANGUAGE-a system of signs,symbols,gestures,or rules in communicating (dictionary.com) IS MUSIC A LANGUAGE? Yes! Especially when you think of it in its written form,without the addition of lyrics SMN-Standard Musical Notation is comprised of staves,time signatures,key signatures,clefs,dynamics,and more....(www.cliffnotes.com) Its a way to share information that many people(musicians) across the world can understand Not only does musical notation have the nine characteristics of communication, but it can also be classified into the categories of linguistic analysis( phonology, phonetic unit, phoneme)and has lexical categories
12. Categories of Linguistic Analysis Phonology-study of the sound system of language(music e.g. Notes/bars) Phonetic Unit/Segment/Phone-actual musical notes produced by an instrument & perceived as a unique sound(symphonies) Phoneme-perceieved sound that signals a difference in meaning when contrasted with another phoneme(cut,but) (d',d")
13. Lexical Categories Major categories into which words(not morphemes)can be divided - noun, pronoun, adjective, verb, determiner In musical notation... A piece is composed of bars/measures. Each measure has a certain amount of beats indicated at the beginning of the piece in fractional notation. The notes can be classfied into three universal categories -flats,sharps,naturals There are a host of other notations in a bar that indicates to the musician the way the music is to be played
14. Exploring Further Some argue that the sounds created by music are not a part of language & are purely artistic & abstract Taking music in its entirety and not just notational form, also gives meaning to music being a language because it shows relationships among varying cultures and in society Music can evoke feelings, emotions,& thoughts. Although maybe not universal reactions; it does show that music communicates to all one way or another "Do you know anyone who doesn't like music"? It can form stronger relationships in the home(parent: child) It sends messages around the world & we in turn respond by buying more to concerts, downloading songs,& connecting to more people
17. Whorf's Research Linguistic relativity-whether & to what extent structures of specific languages have an impact on the thought of those who speak them Using music we can say... Whether & to what extent music variations of a specific song have an impact on the thought of those who hear it Vygotsky: Language socialization across culture (1986) Socio-cultural information is conveyed in and along with language Higher order functions develop out of social interaction(think ABC's song) We must examine the external world in which the individual life has developed in through participation in activities that require cognitive & communicative functions(www.unm.edu/../sociocult.html)
18. Finally Jakobson (1956) Schematic of a Verbal Interaction Addresser - emotional mental state of the speaker(musician/composer) Addressee- cognitive (listener) Context- referential, about the circumstances of the utterance (every song has a story) Code- metalingual, speech (denotational code in music) Message-poetic, the form of the message(sounds or lyrics) Contact- phatic (if the focus is on the communication, the channels stay open) SIGNIFICANCE -this is a model of musical interaction -context is important -allows for multiple functions of an interaction -functions are distinguishable
