“Like language, music is a human universal
involving perceptually discrete elements
organized into hierarchically structured
sequences.”
Patel, 2003
Upon reading this statement, it does make sense that
the function of language is intertwined with those of music. As language is concerned, every single people all around
the world; who communicate to each other do organizes
their words; such as the determiners, nouns and adjectives
into phrases, and finally organizes the phrases into one complete, structured sentence. The same thing goes to music; as
there are chords, chords progression, keys, phrases, modulation and cadences. Everything is being organized to produce
something that is complete.
Talking about music, one aspect that is related is the
property of sounds. For example, a group of students in a
choir class might be taught about the correct way of singing
a phrase in a song, such as the pronunciation and the tone.
These two aspects are related in the studies of language; as it
is closely related to the methodology of listening and speaking.
In English class, students might also be taught about
the properties of the sound; such as in the phonology and
phonetics studies. Students will be taught about the correct
way of pronouncing certain vowels or consonants, the differences in terms of the length as well as the right form of
pronouncing certain words; either strong or weak. They will
also be taught about the correct tone in speaking to make
sure that the communication is comprehensible and effective.
Both music and language are also interrelated to
each other in terms of emotion; thus the cliché “music is
the language of the emotion”. Even so, I find that there
are several aspects that make this statement relevant. It is
well-known that people express their feelings and portray
their emotions with the use of language; like words. And it
is undeniably true that words are the best medium to convey the feelings to other people. However, I do believe that
somehow the feelings will be much more emotionally comprehensible with the use of music.
In language, there are topics which focus on expressing emotion. In a drama class, the students will be
taught about the right way in order to convey their feelings;
involving correct pronunciation, tones, dynamics, stress and
others. The same goes to music; as one of the aspects in
music education is expression, such as the topics of dynamics and mood. (Sukatan Pelajaran KBSR, Pendidikan Muzik,
Pg.6).
For example, in a drama, a movie or a play, it is
indeed very true that people always use music to add in the
impact of certain feeling; such as sad. Other than the actor
saying his lines with full of heart-wrenching words and dictions, it is definitely very true that the sound effect or the
background music had also play the important role in expressing the emotion to the viewer. The same goes to music.
Very often people use music as the medium in conveying
or expressing their emotion. However, I do believe that it is
much more effective with the use of words; or lyrics. With
the correct use of words as well as the suitable choice of
keys and notes, it is undeniably true that the combination
of both music and language can be such a great tool of expressing emotions.
For example, the dynamics of the group of singer
during the end of the phrase or a song might be different
from their tone during the beginning of the song. The dynamics during the beginning might be softer, and become
louder towards the end of the song. The same goes to the
differences between a speaker’s dynamics when asking for a
favor and giving an order. In both cases, the distinction between two dynamics does mean something; and for both cases, the differences are absolutely obvious. Therefore, it can be
said that both music and language share one similar aspect;
The Universal Connection of Language and Music
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