The Importance of Music in Our Lives

I love music. From the time I was a preschooler, I remember hearing my father improvise jazz on the piano, and my family listen to records. I was brought up with the music of the 50's, and as I grew up and took piano lessons, I became very fond of classical music. Enter the Beatles in the early 60's, and I was attracted to "pop" and "rock" music. As time went on, I grew to like almost every type of music, from opera to new age. Music did something for me. It helped me in every mood and lifted me up. My husband and I can go to a broadway musical, or an opera, and be on a "high" from the music. What is it that attracts us to music? Why do we have ipods today with thousands of songs? It's because music is a part of the earth and our nature.

According to biomusicologists (Biomusicology is a new field of science, according to Pennsylvania State University "What's in the News" website), music entered the world from the time only animals roamed the earth. It is theorized that animals used a form of music to communicate. Certainly the song of birds is musical and is a form of communication among their species. Humpback whales are said to sing sonatas as a form of communication.

Biomusicologists believe that human brains are wired for music. It appears that even the first humans in prehistoric times made music. The first musical instruments were probably whistles, carved out of animal bones and were also used for communication. Around 5,000 years ago, people were making musical instruments for pleasure, as well as for use in ceremonies. The breakthrough in music came about 2,500 years ago, when the Greek scholar Pythagoras devised a mathematical formula for what is today's musical scale. Each note would be one step higher than the next. Each note was then given a letter so that music could be written.