Music

What is music? Wikipedia defines it as "an art form whose medium is sound." Plato defines is as "the movement of sound to reach the soul  for the education of its virtue. Both are true. The first is mainly scientific, and the other is philosophical. Music is definitely an art form, and it definitely  educates the soul. It doesn't matter if it's rock, rap, classical, post-rock, pop, or any of the other hundreds of genres and sub-genres, they all express feeling and (hopefully) virtue. This is why I love music so much. It expresses the feelings that essays, politics, and science can't always explain. Instead, it explains what religion, morals, the soul, and much of philosophy try to explain. And besides all that, it can be describe very poetically. You don't even need lyrics all to express emotion. A cello can express a deep sense of feelings such as love, sadness, or unspeakable joy. Trumpets and other brass instruments relay a feeling of adventure and triumph. You don't even need to fill the whole song with sound. Sometimes, the most beautiful parts of a song are the silence. An example of this is the Sigur Ros song, "Heysatan." (No, it's not a satanic greeting, it means "stack of hay.) A lot of the song has brief periods of silence. But it's beautiful. I don't even know the lyrics and I like it. 

So, we know that music can be an expression or release of emotion, so what do you think happens when you listen to it. It affects the way you feel and think, of course! Rock will give you adrenaline, ambient can induce a sleepy and peaceful feeling, and hymns attract the spirit. (Why do you think we sing hymns in church?) Brigitte asked in her post a good question. Did all the criminals in the world listen to classical music in there teens, or did they listen to hard rock, rap, and other crappy music There are many different factors as to what lead a criminal to do what he did, but music probably had an influence along the way. I disagree when she says rap isn't music, but the large majority of those artists make pretty trashy music. And as for hard rock, we have been warned not to listen to it all the time. Why? Because if all we listen to is the fast-paced riffing of rock, our senses become dull to the spirit. It becomes harder to notice. And that's my point. If all you listen to is the crappy music that a lot of the world seems to love, you will not become the best person you can be. It might seem blasphemous, but I swear it's true. Besides, it makes sense. If you're constantly feeding your mind trash, your mind will keep it. You'll get an inappropriate song stuck in your head, which will repeat. The spirit will not be with you, and if your actions will begin to reflect the songs you hear. And most of all, your mind will be more susceptible to the dirty hands of Satan. So, I beg and plead you to NOT listen to bad music. Stay away from the dirty songs like a plague. I promise that it will be worth it.

I hope you don't mind, but here's the post I was referring to-

http://vivrerireamourlire.blogspot.com/2010/10/music.html#comments

Awesome post!