Music

 "What is good music?"

Everyone has different preferences for music, whether if it is a genre, an artist, a specific emotion etc. But how do we know what is good music?

In order to define ‘good’ music, we must first have a clear definition of what music is. Music is ‘a combination of sounds, melodies and rhythms’, but this definition will also require defining the words ‘melody’, because we will probably explain what a rhythm and sound is similarly’.

Elements of music also includes harmony, tonality, rhythm, structure and many more. There are notes which sounds good together, some notes sound ‘okay’ together, while others is painful to hear them together. When two notes sound like they go together, they merge into one note, but when they sound they play together sounds awful, we couldn’t wait the sound to be over.

But is how ‘good’ the music sound to us able to be calculated? Is the the ration between certain notes? Or the timing between the notes? Studies have found that a pleasant sound when the rule of having common harmonies is used.

In the end, there is no rule that can be applied to make music sound nice to everyone, it is a matter of opinion, and it is simply impossible to please everyone at the same time. The elements of music can contribute to how most people respond to the piece, e.g. lack of structure may generate confusion, pieces with fast rhythm may be intended for different purposes, and create a different atmosphere than slow paced rhythm. Even though there is no right and wrong answer for good music, we have say that this is only a matter of personal opinion.