267 Music Essay Topics + Writing Guide [2023 Update]

Your mood leaves a lot to be desired. Everything around you is getting on your nerves. But still, there’s one thing that may save you: music. Just think of all the times you turned on your favorite song, and it lifted your spirits!

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So, why not write about it in a music essay? In this article, you’ll find all the information necessary for this type of assignment:

  • 267 brilliant music essay topics,
  • a sample paper,
  • a step-by-step guide and writing tips.

And don’t forget to bookmark  custom-writing.org  where you can find helpful essay tips in articles like this one.

🔝 Music Essay Topics: Top 10

🔗 References

🎵 Essays about Music: What Are They?

A music essay describes or analyzes a piece of music, its context, or one’s personal attitude towards it. This type of assignment requires a compelling primary argument and a clear structure.

To write well about music, you don’t have to be a professional musician. All you need is to be able to listen, understand, and evaluate it. You should also provide your interpretation and opinion on it.

Writing about Music: Assignment Types

An essay on music is a popular assignment in high school and college. However, many students find it hard to describe sounds in a written form. In this article, we will give you some tips on writing about music.

Here are the typical tasks that you might receive:

The picture shows different tasks related to writing about music.

All of these assignments require a different approach and topic. You will find topics for these types of tasks below.

How to Choose a Music Essay Topic

First things first, you need to find a suitable music essay topic. To accomplish this task, you might want to take the following steps:

🎼 Music Essay Topics List

The first thing you need to do is to choose your topic. We have prepared a variety of music topics perfect for research papers and short essays. You can also use them for speeches or college application essays.

Argumentative Essay about Music: Topics & Ideas

Argumentative essays about music are usually concerned with a specific music-related issue you choose to address. Just like with any other argumentative essay, you should present both sides of the topic. Also, reliable facts are a must for this type of essay.

Receive a plagiarism-free paper tailored to your instructions.

Opinion on Music: Essay Topics

Opinion essays about music might seem similar to the argumentative type. Here, you are expected to write your personal opinion on a topic. Naturally, you can have many opinions on musical topics. Why not broadcast them? Keep in mind that you also need to provide reasons for your point of view.

Topics for a Persuasive Essay about Music

Is there anything music-related you want to convince people of? A persuasive paper is your chance. Carefully craft your arguments to show your readers you’ve always been right about the beauty of cowbells. If it’s not your jam, consider these essay topics about music:

The picture shows the information about the oldest surviving musical composition.

Music Evaluation Essay Topics

Do you want to know how to evaluate music? The point is to divide your overall impression into several parts. Music evaluation requires much attention and concentration, so try to do your best to stay focused while listening.

Use these criteria for evaluating music performances:

Now all you need to do is choose a topic and get down to writing!

Just $13.00 $10.40/page , and you can get an custom-written academic paper according to your instructions

The picture shows a Victor Hugo quote about music.

Topics for an Expository Essay on Music

An expository essay explains or describes a subject. In the colorful world of music, topics can range from the physics of sound waves to artists’ social impact.

History of Music: Essay Topics

If you’re interested in the evolution of music, you’ve come to the right section. Historical research reveals the significance of music throughout time. Unsurprisingly, songs and melodies have been part of human culture for centuries. Dive deeper into this exciting subject with one of the following ideas:

Classification Essay about Music: Topic Ideas

In a classification essay, you explain how a whole relates to parts or vice versa. To do it, you need to divide one broad category into several subcategories. Each classification paragraph focuses on one subcategory, so you need to find a key feature that will be your basis of division. For example, you can divide music by genre, volume, musical instruments, etc.

Here is our list of musical topics for this essay type:

College Essay about Music: Topics

When you apply to your dream college, you need to write an impressive essay. Admissions officers pay attention not only to your grades and achievements but also to your personality. Your writing can indicate your motivation, academic interests, and how well you fit into the college. Writing an essay about “music in my life” is a great way to demonstrate your passion and creativity.

Choose one of these topics related to music for your college essay:

Other Music Essay Topics

If you haven’t found what you’re looking for, you’re welcome to use our topic generator .

✍️ Music Essay: How to Write

So, you have chosen your essay title. Now it’s time to start writing! But before you begin, read the sections below and learn how to organize your work.

How to Describe Music in Writing

You might think that writing about music is like dancing about architecture. Well, it is not an easy task, but we know how to cope with it.

Follow these tips while writing:

Essays about Music: Descriptive Words

Do you want your essay on music to be interesting and expressive? Then you may want to use descriptive vocabulary. Here are some of the terms that you can use in your essay to make it sound more professional:

Music Essay Outline

Like any other assignment, writing about music requires a proper essay outline that will guide you through the writing. The following sections will help you with that.

Before you start, here are some tips that will help you prepare for writing:

Music Essay Introduction

The introduction is the section where you come up with a brief explanation of the topic. You may start it with a quotation, definition, or short statement that catches your reader’s attention and leads them to the essay subject.

A thesis statement is usually the last sentence of the introduction that defines the content of body paragraphs. It needs to be specific and not longer than two sentences. If you decide to shift the focus of your essay while writing, it’s crucial to change your thesis too.

Different types of essays require different thesis statements. Let’s take a closer look:

Music Essay Body

Your essay’s body is the most significant part of your writing. Here, you provide evidence and explanations of your claims.

The typical body paragraph structure includes:

Topic Sentence about Music

Topic sentences can be used as a roadmap to writing your essay. Each body paragraph begins with a topic sentence that defines what the paragraph is about. It introduces the argument or main thought that will be explained. It’s also connected with the thesis statement.

It’s essential to make your thesis easy to understand, so it’s better not to overcomplicate it. For example, here’s an unsuccessful topic sentence with unnecessary words:

As stated above, the guitar is an essential musical instrument in rock music that defines how it sounds.

Instead, you can formulate it like this:

The guitar is the most iconic musical instrument in rock music that defines how it sounds.

Music Essay Conclusion

When writing a conclusion for your essay on music, you can use the following structure:

To make your essay conclusion more effective, avoid the following:

📑 What Music Means to Me: Essay Example

Now you know all about writing an essay on music! To make it even easier for you, we’ve prepared an essay sample that you can use for inspiration. Check it out:

Now all you need is to turn the music on and get down to writing! We hope you liked this guide. If you did, don’t hesitate to share it with your friends.

Further reading:

✏️ Music Essay FAQ

Music is a vast topic. An essay might deal with anything ranging from trends in the 1950s to the best guitarists of all time. Writing an introduction to certain music styles or bands is also possible. In any case, the paper should be well-structured, logical, and cohesive.

Writing about music doesn’t necessarily require any specific skills. If you’re not familiar with the theory of music and can’t play musical instruments, you can just write about the music you like. Here are some topic ideas: favorite music band, style, or how you perceive music.

You can interpret music as a topic in various ways. If you are getting a degree in this field, you might want to write something more specific and technical. If your essay aims to merely inform and entertain, write about your favorite music style or band.

If you are writing an essay for school, a good choice would be an expository essay. It doesn’t require any specific knowledge of the music industry. Title suggestions might be: “My perception of music,” “My favorite band,” “How music can change the world.”

Thank you very much for this post on music essay writing! You don’t know how long I looked for the helpful information on writing music essays!

Music takes an important part in my life. I wake up and go to bed listening to music. And now when I’m writing my music essay, I also listen to music. And it’s also a pleasure to read an article on how to write an essay on music!

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Music Genre

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We take sounds and create the music we hear every day. Our development on music is effected by people around us. We take the context of songs and relate it back to our own lives. People dislike certain types of music because they can’t relate or enjoy the sound. Although music affects us all differently, all melodies have a similar meaning. Everyone’s choice of music is greatly affected by influences. The genre we get into is all caused for the same reasons; family, friends, or social environments.

Music, as a pattern of sounds, has a huge influence on the mood and well-being of a person. Even animals and plants can be calmed or excited by the sound. Some tunes can help us relax, other cheer us up. Some of the musical compositions we like almost instinctively, others aren’t as pleasant to us but may fascinate someone else. In any case, there are a few people completely indifferent to the music.

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Music appears in our life long before we are actually born. Our first “tune” is a beating of mother’s heart, rhythmic and soothing. Some psychologists claim that our love for rhythm and music emerges from this prenatal experience as a try to recreate it. The second our song is a lullaby, often wordless, sung for us by mother or grandma. Often, the only thing from the infancy people remember is the tune of a lullaby. We can start singing to our kids the family lullaby without even knowing it is one.

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The Influence of the Environment on the Choice of Music Genre

A child who has grown up in the country might be exposed to mostly country music, while a child in the city might be used to rock or new pop music on the radio. We all come to enjoy the music our parents played in our early life but as we grow up we add our own genre of music. The genre of music you choose mostly places you in a similar group of friends. For example someone who listens to mostly all country probably won’t fit in as well with the kids who listen to metal. The friends who listen to metal judge that person who listens to country.

The influences will change a person to fit in with the crowd or cause someone to create their own group. The pressure puts labels on all people for the genres they listen to. If you listen to scremo, you might be considered gothic or country might be labeled as hicks. What people don’t realize is every song is composed of beats, and the instruments is what changes the sound of a song. Where we live and the people surrounding us, affects our influence on music. Every sound we hear creates different moods and emotions.

Music as a Part of Our Lives

People can all relate music to a personal experience, but that experience is very diverse for each person. When we hear a song about love some can be excited and relate that song to their own relationship or someone can be upset and think about their past love. Music almost makes you feel like you can travel back in time. We all have a moment when we listen to a song, and that melody creates a mental image of where you were when you first listened to it. You can see that moment and feel the emotions you felt in the past.

Music creates memory, and each memory creates emotion in our life. We enjoy listening to music because it gives us a good vibe. That feel good moment is the reason why we appreciate music. Many listeners also enjoy a song because of the simple lyrics to follow. Everyone uses music for some type of therapy. We listen to songs so we can vent, relax, dance, or reminis. One song can have a great affect on each individual differently. We loathe on music just because it’s something we don’t like. Everyone has a different music preference, and we all like music for the same reason.

We all enjoy the way music makes us feel. Music is all around us and is a part of our life, but why do people continue to despise certain genres? Most people look at the basic parts of a song, only the lyrics; they don’t appreciate the sound behind the words. Without that sound we wouldn’t have a song to enjoy. All Sound is music, whether it’s listening to a clock tick or a fan spinning on the ceiling, we can create our own tunes. The song Too Close by Alec Clare is a perfect example of how listeners can have such disgust with one genre but will accept a song.

The song has a catchy raw beat that people love without even realizing the genres in the song. The song Too Close was a very popular song for all ages or genres because Alex Clare mixed alternative rock, electronic, and soul music. So many people who like rock can’t stand electronic music because it’s repetitive, has less lyrics, and it’s not “real” music. Yet rock and electronic is similar in many ways. They both have a repetitive chorus and verse and made up of different sounds. Rock can have long solos along with electronic.

So when Alex Clare created the song Too Close many people never realized he combined different genre types. Many people disagree with certain music because they dont recognize the connection all music has. Each genre has a comparable meaning, but holds a different impact on people. Our social environment molds us into the music we listen to. Music also allows us to feel every emotion. We can all listen to the same song but have a totally different outlook on the concept behind the song. Our different personalities cause individuals to dislike any type of song they cannot connect to.

The power of music is as large as one individual makes it to be, it can be a seemingly endless void of influence and understanding or as insignificant as the dust in your attic.

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.” With this statement, Plato, a famous philosopher, recognized the importance of music. Music is a crucial part of all human cultures.

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Essay on Music

List of essays on music, essay on music – short essay for kids and children (essay 1 – 150 words), essay on music (essay 2 – 250 words), essay on music – types, importance and usage (essay 3 – 300 words), essay on music – for school students (class 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 standard) (essay 4 – 400 words), essay on music (essay 5 – 500 words), essay on music – written in english (essay 6 – 600 words), essay on music (essay 7 – 750 words), essay on music – long essay for college students (essay 8 – 1000 words).

Music is an art form which triggers our feelings in different ways. The soul of music comprises of rhythm, pitch, texture, timbre and dynamics. Music is used in different forms and in varied sectors and the results are beyond one’s own understanding.

Audience: The below given essays are especially written for kids, children, school students (class 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 standard) and college students.

Introduction:

Music is the sound produced that is pleasing to the ears. It is also a form of Art. Music can be produced through many activities, such as singing, using musical instruments or any other objects.

More about Music:

Music is an instant mood lifter. It touches the soul and helps you connect with people. It heals one’s mind. Music takes care of mental needs. It helps in overcoming disabilities of any form.

There are many genres of music like classical, blues, rock, jazz, folk, etc. Every culture has its own music. The classical music in Indian culture is Carnatic and Hindustani. Whatever be the genre, it is all equally soothing.

Conclusion:

Music is a beautiful form of expression. It is that form of art that evolves continuously. Everyone has some form of passion towards music within them, either in the form of a desire to learn or listening for relaxation. To me music is life, and I have a strong desire to learn music in the future.

It has already been proven that music can do much more than just lifting the spirits. There are different genres of music used for calming and relaxing our mind and senses. Music has become a major part in Chemotherapy centers and even in the Pregnancy wards. When slow and melodious music is played, it lowers the blood pressure thus slowing down the heartbeat allowing us to breathe normally and to calm the nerves.

It has been proven that music can reduce the music tension that builds up around the different parts of our body including the back, neck, stomach and shoulders. More importantly, music drastically works on lowering psychological tension from our mind. Listening to music helps to reduce mental and physical stress and is highly employed in the health industry to relax and keep the patients calm.

Music is the complete package for improving our soul and mind equally. This is the reason why a long drive with slow and melodious music can change one’s mood to a happy and merry going one. It has the God gifted power to erase all the negative thoughts from our mind and to make it more positive and happy. This indeed improves our concentration and works to enhance our overall skills.

Until now, the world has not seen anything better than music to heal the inner soul and the body alike.

Music is loved and enjoyed by all people around the world in different ways. Its pleasant sound makes it an important element in a person’s life.

Hearing music makes you feel peaceful and happier in life. Without the harmony and melody of music, life becomes very frustrating.

Types of Music:

There are numerous types of music all over the world.

Below you can find the important and most popular categories of music:

1. Jazz Music

2. Hip hop Music

3. Rock and Roll Music

4. Rock Music

5. Blues Music

6. Country Music

7. Pop Music

8. R&B (Rhythm and Blues) Music

9. Folk Music

10. Fusion Music

Importance of Music:

Music is a vital part of every person’s life. It is essential in the different moments of life. In fact, during the sorrow, we hear the music.

Music not only brings happiness in our life and but also sometimes shows us the way to overcome the problem.

Unlimited Power of Music:

There is unlimited power of music like healing and relaxing. After listening to the music, people feel relaxed and forget all their worries for a certain period.

Music eases the stressed muscles of the human body. It provides calmness to the mind of a tired person too.

Usage of Music in Treatment:

Music possesses the miracle power of curing few mental disorders like rare enthusiasm, nervousness or depression. It is also helpful in curing the insomnia patients.

Music act like a mother’s love that makes us forget all our worries and only make us enjoy life.

It is right to say that music helps in washing away all the stress of our daily hectic and busy life from within. Once you hear the magical sound of music, you instantly feel harmony inside your heart. These types of experiences are exceptional. Music has no religion, caste or colour. It makes us feel connected inside our soul.

Music is a form of art. India has always had a rich history of great musicians. Good music is always a treat to the ears. In fact, it allows us to connect to our inner self.

There are different styles of this art depending on different factors. Different countries have different styles of music of their own. Depending on the sounds, we have different forms of music such as pop, jazz, folk, Latin, classical, rock and many more.

Music has that control, which can treat certain psychological sicknesses, for example, tension, not so ordinary energy or wretchedness. It is also the most amazing and supportive ways to treat the patient of a sleeping disorder. Additionally, it is the magnificent and invigorating force. We can contrast it with the mother’s affection. As the kid reliably needs the lap of his mother for overlooking everything and feels bliss. In a similar way, music serves to us as a mother to overlook each stress and tension in a melodic way.

It has the unwinding and recuperating power as well. Moreover, it encourages us to unwind, quiet our indignation down and furthermore to mend our stresses. We like to listen to different types of music, band or the vocalist and it changes from person to person. It encourages us to ruminate while doing Yoga and locate our more profound self by associating us to the otherworldly world.

It has No Barriers:

Or more every one of these things, it knows no limits. Music does not differentiate between the general population, religion, station and belief. The conventional one is altogether different than the advanced, worldwide one. Today the universe of music has completely changed. We have such a large number of specialists, vocalists, artists, writers in the entire world making wonderful music. Today there are unique establishments, schools, and universities to learn this art expertly. Today students are seeking music as a profession, as a leisure activity and a vocation as well.

Music is the essence of life. It has the power to heal people and can relieve you of your tensions. Moreover, it is always enjoyable to hear the type of music you love. People love listening to it whenever they find the time. It is an important subject in schools and a strong tool to promote culture as well. That is why perhaps music is so loved by one and all.

Music Every Day:

The world is full of beautiful music and every culture and time in history has its special tune. The fact that we can listen to music every day is something I am grateful for deeply because it makes my life more beautiful. My favorite thing about music is the fact that you can find a tune that will suit almost any event or state of mind. Thankfully we are living in an age when this is becoming a fact, we can experience every day in various situations.

Music Makes you Happy:

Listening to music is not just pleasing esthetically but it also has many benefits for our mental well-being. Scientists have been talking about the positive influence music has on our brain and on the production of neural- transmitters like dopamine that gives us the feeling of satisfaction. The fact is that music is even used as part of some psychotherapy treatments and there is even evidence that it helps plants grow.

Making music can be considered one of our distinctive characteristics although singing is common in many animal species. That is why music has such a profound influence on our brain leading some to conclude that it is even part of our evolution and the reason we are humans. Music can be inspiring and it can comfort us in time of need, it is present when we celebrate something and also when we just want to make the dullness of everyday life go away. Music is one of our best friends and sometimes we do not give it the proper gratification, especially in the present age when it is so widespread and common.

Music as Identity:

The other major feature of the music is the fact that it is a strong marker of identity. Every ethnic group and nation have their own set of instruments and tunes they are well known for. When you think about Scotland you imagine the back pipes and the music they make, when you think about Germany there is the trumpet.

The wonderful thing about music and the instruments used to make it is the fact that it can be played by anyone and in many different locations. This has created so many variations of sound and styles that we can talk about an ocean of music or several oceans.

The 20 th century has thought us many lessons about music and about the power world-renowned music artist can have over the public. Once this characteristic of music was discovered an army of producers sprung up to take control of that power and to divert it toward more materialistic goals. That has not changed the influence music tunes will have on our identity and the profound influence it has on our daily lives. Stopping and thinking about the influence it has on us makes my spine shiver as does the idea of a world without music. That is why I think we should support every person who wants to create music and make our lives more beautiful.

Music could be defined as a collection of sounds and melodies. This would be a simplistic idea of what music is and would not fully describe the place that music occupies in our lives. Music is more than a collection of sounds and melodies. Music is life, love and that place we go to find solace.

From time immemorial, music has formed part of our history as human beings. From the old romantic empire to the reign of the Greeks, people have depended on music as a source of solace and comfort.

History of Music:

Historians do not agree on the origin of music. Some claim that music predates the existence of humans themselves. However, historians agree that there are certain periods in history that has contributed immensely to the growth of music in the world. These periods introduced distinct sounds which are still prominent today.

The first period is the medieval era which dates from the 6th to the 16th century. During this era, only monophonic and polyphonic sounds existed. Then we moved to the renaissance which was marked by experimental sounds and rhythms. Other periods such as the baroque, classics and romantic periods also brought about several innovations in sound.

The final period, which is the 20th century, is where we are currently. Technology has taken over how we make and perform music. Thus, we produce sounds through the use of electronic component and perform in the same way. This period is also notable for introducing jazz and electronic music.

Genre of Music:

There are countless genres of music and new ones keep emerging on a daily basis. While some are a combination of already existing sounds others are a total break from the norm.

Below are the few popular music genres:

1. Pop – Also known as popular music is a combination of several sounds produced for a large audience.

2. Rhythm and Blues – Just as the name implies, this is a combination of two prominent styles. It has an infusion of soul music delivered through rhymes.

3. Electronic music – As opposed to the use of natural instruments, electronic music employs the use of technology to develop unique sounds.

4. Rock – This music form has its root in America. It is notable for its combination of string instruments and heavy sounds.

Music in its basic form is a combination of sounds and melody. Why then is it so important to us? The following are some of the reasons:

Music is Universal:

Citizens of the world are divided by language, race, and a host of other things. However, one instance when the world is in unity is when we connect to the same melodies. Music has the capacity to remove all of our bias and prejudices. In this sense, it can be regarded as a social tool. People who have no business speaking to each other instantly connect when they listen to music they both love.

Music Makes Learning Easy:

This has been validated throughout history. You probably remember the nursery rhymes you learned when you were a kid. Somehow, the music stays with us for longer periods of time. Even when we forget the words of a song, the melody never leaves. In addition to the above, music helps retain our mental focus.

Music Relaxes:

The importance of music would not be complete if we do not mention its therapeutic nature. Though some form of music can make us tense and anxious others help us reduce stress and anxiety. This is especially important due to the nature of the world we live in.

Music is an important part of our lives. It dictates our mood, controls our thought and affects our relationship with others. Man’s history cannot be fully written without the impact of music on our lives.

Music as we know it is a form of art and a cultural activity with its medium being sound that is organised with respect to time. Definitions of the term music should generally include some common elements like rhythm (with its associated concepts like articulation, meter and tempo), pitch (it governs harmony and melody), the qualities of sonic of texture and timbre (we sometimes refer to these as the colour of musical sound). All of the different and various types or styles of music might tend to omit, de-emphasize or emphasize a few of the listed elements of music.

Music can be performed with a wide variety of vocal techniques and instruments, the vocal techniques can range from rapping to singing and there are some pieces that are solely instrumental while some others are solely vocal (examples are songs that have no instrumental accompaniment) also pieces that put together instruments and singing.

When we want to address the term in a general form, the different activities that describe music as being a form of art or a cultural activity are the examination of aesthetic music, the study and knowledge of music and its history, music criticism and the creation and making of music works (symphonies, tunes, songs and so many more).

Elements of Music:

There are a lot of different elements or fundamentals of music. Based on the description of the element of music that is being used, the different elements of music can include structure, form, articulation, expression, dynamics, colour or timber, voice allocation, style, texture, harmony, melody, rhythm, tempo, pulse or beat and pitch. We can differentiate the elements of music by describing the elements of music as “rudimentary elements of music” and “perpetual elements of music”.

1. Rudimentary Elements:

Around the 1800s, we used the words “rudiments of music” and “elements of music” interchangeably. All of the elements that were described in manuscripts talked about the parts of music needed to become a successful musician. Writers like Estrella in recent years use the words “elements of music” in a very much similar way. A definition that almost accurately describes the usage is: “the rudimentary principles of an art, science, etc.: the elements of grammar”. The curriculum of the UK changes to “interrelated dimensions of music” poses a shift back to the use of rudimentary music elements.

2. Perpetual Elements:

The emergence and the start of study into psychoacoustics around the 1930s. There came the discovery that there are four attributes that are psychological and belong to music. They are timbre, time, loudness and pitch. While rudimentary elements can vary based on the personal preference of the writer, perpetual elements on the other hand always consist of a list of proven or established discrete elements that can be manipulated independently to get the desired musical effect.

The curriculum of music of US, UK and Australia feature the music elements prominently. Each one of the curriculums identifies texture, timbre, dynamics and pitch as elements, which makes all of the above listed elements agreed universally.

A list of the official three versions of music elements are listed below:

1. USA – articulation/style, harmony, form, rhythm, dynamics, texture, timbre and pitch.

2. UK – structure, tempo, duration, dynamics, texture, timbre, pitch.

3. Australia – structure, form, rhythm, expression, dynamics, texture, timbre, pitch.

Music has contributed a lot to our society. In the world we live in today, music has become a major business. Music industry describes all of the businesses connected and related with the sale and creation of music. The industry of music is made of composers and songwriters that create different new songs with musical pieces. The sale of music is a very lucrative business and we now have online music stores like Apple’s iTunes, Spotify, tidal and so many more. Musicians also get paid a lot of money to perform at concerts and make special appearances. The industry employs a lot of other people and is a source of livelihood to millions of people worldwide.

Music therapy helps in a lot of way. It is a highly interpersonal process where a therapist that is trained employs the use of music and its various facets- spiritual, aesthetic, social, mental, emotional and physical to assist clients in improving or maintaining their health. It is safe to assume that music cuts across every area of our lives and it has had a positive impact on a lot of things. It is also important to note that there have also been negative effects of music on our society.

People love music because it is a form of entertainment but do they really understand music for what it is and not just the sound? What is music? Is it just the melody, the lyrics, the art of performance or the people doing it? Music is basically an art and a cultural activity that is in form of organized sound. Music is appreciated all over the world and it is different for everyone.

My perception on music may be focused on the rhythm and another person’s perception may be focused on the message being delivered. Music has been in existence since the beginning of time. Transformations have occurred with modernization and civilization. However, some music is still deep-rooted into culture and has not been influenced by the changing times. Music is of great importance in humanity. Although music is appreciated worldwide, it is faced with challenges.

Genres of Music:

Music is a whole world in itself that is full of diversity. Music is classified into different genres and the genre defines the aspects of music like rhythm, instruments, art of performance among others. There are many general genres of music in the world. Blues, classical music, jazz and reggae are the most common genres that are listened to across the globe. Other genres include rock, pop, folk, electronic, country and hip hop music. All these genres difference in terms of the sound they produce. Genres like rock, electronic and jazz use a lot of sound combination.

Folk music is basically about culture and tradition and they always remain unchanged and uninfluenced by the changes that take place in the world. Blues, classical and reggae music are almost similar in term of sound use instrument use. It is important to consider genres of music when selecting the type of music to listen to. For educational purposes, the genres of music are not commonly used because they teach on the technical aspects of music at school. Artists can be defined by the genre of music that they sing for example hip hop musicians are known to praise money, cars and fancy fashions like chains.

The reason why music is appreciated widely is because of the impact it has on the lives of individuals. Man’s interaction with sound is unavoidable because music is everywhere. Music is listened to by people for different reasons. Music is significant in our lives as entertainment, emotional response, and a way of creating income and in education.

In entertainment, music dominated the entertainment industry because it has the ability to reach everyone. Music is widely spread as it is found on the internet, in media platforms like radios and televisions, in live performance concerts, in churches and schools. Countries have also adopted music in legalities like the national anthems. Music is significant to both the culture and the economy.

Music in emotional response is widely used and that is why psychologists and psychiatrists have invented the use of music in therapy. Music triggers emotional responses. In normal life situations, when a person is sad, listening to sad music makes them even sadder but listening to happy music helps to rejuvenate the mood. Spiritual music is also important in emotional response. When worshiping God, people have learnt to use music in praise and to create a worship environment by triggering remorseful and humbling emotions in people through worship songs.

Music is a source of income for majority of people in the music industry. Although some people just do it for the passion and as a hobby, most of them gain income that is substantial t sustain their lives. Despite from wealth creation, people gain fame from music. People who have created music hits are famous and wealthy and some young musicians look up to them for inspiration and as role models.

Music is important in education as it is an art that is taught is school. In all levels of education, music is significant and is appreciated in schools. Taking music as a subject is different from what we know from the outside because it involves the technical and theoretic aspects of music that we cannot gain from just listening to music. Music can also be pursued as a career at colleges and universities.it is a career path that required hard work, determination and commitment just like any other career.

Challenges Facing Music:

Music is faced with challenges which affect both the artists and the music industry. Artists are faced by challenges such as financial insufficiency to fund their music production. Producing music is expensive because you need to go through a recording studio, which are usually costly and most people cannot afford.

The music industry is a bit biased in terms of finances because there are some people who can be very talented but yet lack money to produce their music while there are rich people who are not as talented but they can afford to produce their music. The line of poverty will never be eradicated because in most situations, those with financial abilities will always have an upper hand.

Drugs and substance abuse is another major challenges that is faced by artists. Most artists especially those in the secular music industry abuse drugs which could end badly for them some die of drug overdoses and some spend most of their time in rehabilitation facilities. The music industry has been highly condemned for advocating for drugs especially hip hop artists who always sing about drugs and money. Drugs and substance abuse is a major problem that is rooted in music.

The music industry faces a marketing challenge. Music is produced and then each artist is supposed to market their song for them to gain sales. In marketing, activities such as tours, concerts and media marketing are expensive. The marketing is therefore challenged and the music industry may incur financial loses during marketing.

In conclusion, music is a wide field and it is beneficial to the society. Music is to be respected and adored for its goodness.

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Essay Service Examples Entertainment Rock and Roll

Rock and Roll Musical Genre and Its History

Rock and roll is a popular genre of music, which was formed in the United States in the 1940s and 50s from the musical styles like jump blues, jazz, boogie woogie, country music, etc. ‘Rock’ is derived from the Old English ‘roccain’, which means to pull, tear or to move. Similarly, ‘roll’ is derived from the Latin ‘rotula’, meaning ‘small wheel’. Later on, a metaphor slipped into popular discourse and by 1920s rock and roll became double entendre referring to with dancing or sex. The genre did not get its name until 1950. Black vocal groups like the Dominoes and the Spaniels merged gospel-style harmonies, call and response singing with realistic matter and aggressive rhythm and blues rhythm to form rock music. Rock and roll is specially characterized by a heavy beat and simple melodies usually based around a twelve-bar structure and an instrumentation of guitar, double bass, and drums.

In the earliest rock and roll styles, there were piano or saxophone as a lead instrument but later on these instruments were generally replaced by guitar in the middle of 1950s. Snare drum provides the backbeat in the classic rock, but usually rock is played with two electric guitars (lead and rhythm), a bass guitar and a drum kit. Beside only a musical style, rock and roll has influenced lifestyles fashion, attitudes and language. It has been enjoyed and loved by the both American and African-American teenagers through which a contributed can be seen to the civil right movements. Therefore, the root of rock and roll lay in the rhythm and blues, but the influences were jazz, blues, gospel, country and folk.

The value of rock and roll has approached from different perspective. How it has influenced or reflected society? Rock and roll appeared when racial tensions in the USA were entering new phase. The white youth audiences and black music rock and roll provoked strong white racist reactions with many whites breaking down of barriers based on color. That was the time when rock and roll music encouraged racial cooperation and shared experience. Therefore, still many peoples argue that early rock and roll was instrumental in the way both white and black teenagers identified themselves. The distinction between music and noise changed dramatically in the second half of the 20th century. Music became wider, in public places in the home with the help of a radio, CD player or a cassette player in every room. The Walkman, boom box or karaoke machine and the development of compact disc accelerated the process which made the music from place to place and any time available. The rock music came as the form of human conversation through television and radio and by filmmakers and advertisers. The rock genre has survived despite of centralization of production and the increasing cost of manufacture, promotion and distribution. In the beginning of the 21st century rock music industry faced a crisis as the development of digital technology made the music stored easily on digital files and could be transferred from personal computer to computer via internet. There was an advantage that musical rights holder could make money every time a song was downloaded and disadvantage that if their song would be exchanged without any money changing hands at all.

Many rock and roll stars were known as hard drinking, hard-living characters. The rock and roll lifestyle was popular those days associated with sex and drugs. Rock and roll musicians had attracted the attention of mostly girls spending time often performed sexual favors for band members. As the time passed, rockstars lifestyle became more public and the popularity and promotion of drug use by musicians influenced use of drugs and availability of drug use and acceptance among the youths. Band like Beatles, who had been marked as clean-cut guys, started publicly acknowledging using drugs which many fans followed.

In 1954 named Elvis Presley from Tupelo, Mississippi, defined the rock and roll genre with tracks like ‘Jailhouse Rock’, ‘Hound Dog’ and ‘Don’t Be Cruel’. His music career began in 1954 recording at Sun Records with producer Sam Phillips, who wanted to bring the sound of African- American music to a wider audience. His good looks along with his compelling combination of country music and rhythm and blues proved him to be wildly successful. His energized interpretations of songs and sexually provocative performance style made him enormously popular and controversial. In 1956, he made a film debut in ‘Love Me Tender’. Presley relaunched his recording career two years later with some of his most commercially successful work. He held concerts and guided by Parker proceed to devote much of the 1960s to make Hollywood films and an album of soundtracks. After seven years of break from live performance, in 1968 he returned to the stage in the acclaimed television comeback special, which led to an extend Las Vegas concert and a string of high profitable tours. Presley’s era defining, hypersexual appearance on TV shows like ‘The Sullivan Show’ were important as his music. It was him who made rock and roll the international language of pop. In a list of greatest English language singers Presley was ranked first and second in the list of greatest singers of 20th century by BBC radio. He gave all the teen music to grow up and listen to. He also worked with African-American performers such as Big Joe Turner, Wynonie Harris and Fats Domino, and came to national prominence, after Presley’s acceptance among mass audiences of White American adults. Presley’s ‘ducktail’ haircut, black slack and loose, open-neck shirts resulted in new lines of clothing for teenage boys. American teenagers begun buying portable radios and listened rock and roll which made an industry to sell estimated 100,000 units to 5000000 units till end 1958. It was estimated that more than one billion of his records have been sold worldwide. He has 150 different albums and singles, many of which have been certified platinum, multi-platinum and gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. It is estimated that 40% of Elvis Presley records have been sold outside the United States.

Beside music he made his network television debut the first of his six appearances on ‘Stage Show’. Once Ed Sullivan said he would never have the controversial singer on his top-rated show, but later Sullivan paid $50,000 to make three appearances on his show. Elvis’ next network television appearance was in 1960, when Frank Sinatra gave his variety show ‘Welcome Home’, he was paid $125,000 to appear making history.

musical genre essay

Later, Elvis Presley starred in 31 feature films as an actor and two theatrically released concert documentary films, all of which enjoyed financial huge success. He became Hollywood’s top box office draws and one of its highest-paid actors. His works on films ‘Jailhouse Rock’ and ‘King Creole’ became classics of the era. Some of his top-selling music came from his movies. Eleven of his motion sound tracks went to the top 10 and of those four went to number one. ‘G.I Blues’ was number one on the Billboard charts for 10 weeks and remained on the chart for 111 weeks. The album ‘Blue Hawaii’ was number one for 20 weeks and was on the chart for 79 weeks. He received 14 Grammy nominations from National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and NARS recognized him with their Lifetime Achievement Award known as the Bing Crosby Award in honor of its first recipient.

Chuck Berry, who was born on 1926 to a large family in St. Louis, also known as the father of rock and roll, he was one of the most influential rock and roll performers in music history. A great song writer, main sharper instrumental voice, great guitarist and a great performer too. He had an early exposure to music at school and church. Berry pursued a variety of interest and hobbies as a child. He used to enjoy carpentry work of his father and learned photography from his uncle. Late, he showed an early talent for music and began singing in the church choir at the age of six. He started guitar lessons after the performance at the school’s annual talent show he learned guitar lessons from the local jazz legend Ira Harris.

When he was teen, he was sent to the prison for 3 years for armed robbery. When he was 21, he returned to St. Louis and worked for his father’s construction business and part-time as a photographer and janitor at local auto plant. At the end of the 1952, he met Jonnie Johnson, a local pianist and joined his band. He introduced upbeat country numbers into the band’s repertoire of jazz and pop music. They played at the cosmopolitan, an upscale black nightclub in East St. Louis, which began attracting white peoples. In 1955, he met the legendary blues musician Muddy Waters who suggested to meet with Chess Records. He released the single ‘Maybellene’, which showed a vital mix of rhythm and blues, electric guitar and country swagger. It was the major hit and earning first spot on the Billboard music charts. ‘Maybellene’ with its unique blend of a rhythm and blues beat, country guitar licks and flavor of Chicago blues and narrative storytelling, consider it as the true rock and roll song.

Berry managed to achieve the good harmony with white people youths without alienating his black fans by mixing the blues and R&B sounds which spoke to the universal themes of youth. His songs like ‘Johnny B. Goode’, ‘Sweet Little Sixteen’ and ‘Carol’ managed to crack the top ten of the pop charts, achieving popularity with youths on both sides of the racial divide.

He was put into the jail for another 20 months under the Mann Act of illegally transporting a woman across state line for ‘immoral purposes’. When Berry was released from the prison in 1963, he picked again where he left off, writing and recording popular and innovative songs. Berry released his last album of original music ‘Rock It’ in 1979. Later on, in 1985, he received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He became the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s first inductee. Various artists were influenced by the Berry’s work. Popular band like The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles have all covered various Chuck Berry songs.

Rock and roll is a form of popular music that emerged in the United States in the 1940s and early 1950’. Its root can be tracked back centuries to drum beats in Africa and Celtic folk music in Europe. Peoples brought their music and exposed to each other and began to incorporate different styles. The root of rock and roll lay in the ‘race’ music or rhythm and blues and ‘hillbilly’ music or country and western of the 40s and 50s. The phrase ‘rock and roll’ emerged as a code word of sexual intercourse in blue songs. In the 30s, these words were used to describe rhythms and musical beats. Cleveland DJ and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee Alan Freed is credited with first using the words to describe the rhythm and blues music playing in the radio.

Over the past five decades, rock and roll has evolved in many directions. Numerous styles of music from sol to hip-hop, from heavy metal to punk, from progressive rock to electronic have fallen under the rock and roll shades. Still many of the bands from different country support and love rock and roll. The opinion and interest make the vast different for music lovers to choose their genre music in a different way. It influenced lifestyles, fashion, attitudes, and language. Which describe events and conflicts that most listeners could relate to through personal experience. The new music tried to break boundaries and express emotions that people were actually feeling but had not talked about. So, rock and roll still can be heard and seen making many changes and progress through the music in various ways and yet to see many updated and upgraded techniques in rock and roll music.

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COMMENTS

  1. 267 Music Essay Topics + Writing Guide [2023 Update]

    Writing an essay about “music in my life” is a great way to demonstrate your passion and creativity. Choose one of these topics related to music for your college essay: The role of music in your life. Describe what music means to you, how often you listen to it, and how it helps you in life.

  2. Music Genres Role And Meaning Media Essay

    Genre helps people identify what the music is and what is composed in the music from the instrumentation to the rhythm and beat and how it sounds. Genre plays a role in cultural identity in that it gives people an idea of what time period the music is from or from where its country of origin is.

  3. Music Genre Free Essay Example

    The genre of music you choose mostly places you in a similar group of friends. For example someone who listens to mostly all country probably won’t fit in as well with the kids who listen to metal. The friends who listen to metal judge that person who listens to country.

  4. Essay on Music: 8 Selected Essays on Music

    Music is classified into different genres and the genre defines the aspects of music like rhythm, instruments, art of performance among others. There are many general genres of music in the world. Blues, classical music, jazz and reggae are the most common genres that are listened to across the globe.

  5. Rock and Roll Musical Genre and Its History

    Rock and roll is a popular genre of music, which was formed in the United States in the 1940s and 50s from the musical styles like jump blues, jazz, boogie woogie, country music, etc. ‘Rock’ is derived from the Old English ‘roccain’, which means to pull, tear or to move. Similarly, ‘roll’ is derived from the Latin ‘rotula’, meaning ‘small wheel’.