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When looking at a painting, some people ask "What is it?" or "What does it mean?" No one listens to instrumental music and asks the same questions. Many of us don't expect music to mean anything.
Yet, it does mean something. Music is a vague language. I'm not referring to lyrics, which is poetry, not music. The "words" of music, (the notes, rhythms, melodies, and harmony of music), are not as direct as English, Spanish or French words. Though it may sound like a contradiction, sometimes the words of music, because they are vague, are even more accurate. Music can express emotions we cannot find words to describe.
And it is a universal language. Historically, the musical dialect differed from continent to continent. The instrumentation alone created different sounds and textures. Though they may sound unfamiliar at first, upon close listen, ideas are expressed in much the same way.
Slow tends to be sad or romantic; fast tends to be excited or angry. Minor keys tend to evoke loneliness; major keys less so. Dissonance evokes tension; harmony, resolution.
And unlike other languages where to understand it well one is usually able to speak it well, music is a language we all understand well, though few can speak well. A person who has no musical training can understand that the final movement of Beethoven's ninth symphony is triumphant. The language of music is easy to understand, but difficult to speak.
See also: The Language We All Understand
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