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Harry Potter

2009-06-24T17:05:09Z

SatanWorshiper: /* Literary Criticisms */

[[Image:67486ruy.jpg|right|thumb|British edition of '''Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone'''.]]
The '''''Harry Potter''''' books are a hugely popular<ref> The author has sold 350 million books and counting, been translated into 65 languages and had her work made into highly successful movies. [http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=3811481&page=1 ABC News] </ref> series of seven fantasy novels by [[J.K. Rowling]] about three children at a British boarding school for 'witchcraft and wizardry': Harry, Ron and Hermione. The children grow from age 11 to 17 in the books, giving them appeal to a broad range of readers including children and teenagers, but also appealing to adults.

==Harry Potter==
'''Harry Potter''' is the [[protagonist]] and the plot of each book focuses on Harry's adolescence and fight against the [[antagonist]] wizard Lord Voldemort. The books combine elements of whimsy reminiscent of ''[[Alice in Wonderland]]'', the strange adult immaturity of ''[[Through the Looking Glass]]'', and the implacable good vs. evil fight of ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''.

When Harry was a mere baby, his parents were murdered by the evil [[Voldemort]]. Harry didn't know that his parents were [[wizard (fiction)|wizard]]s until his 11th birthday; it came as a giant surprise. [[Hagrid]] took him to [[Diagon Alley]] for robes, books and wand; then on to [[Hogwarts]], a boarding school for wizards and witches. He had many adventures there learning [[magic]] and using it to fight the forces of the [[Voldemort|wizard]] who killed his [[parent]]s when he was an [[infant]]. Lord Voldemort seeks to become immortal by any means. Voldemort also leads forces of "Death Eaters" who follow Voldemort's ideology of a "pure-blood" (wizard who was born to wizard parents) society and persecute Muggles, non-magical folk. Along the way, Harry learns about life and [[death]] and grapples with questions of [[morality]] and [[friendship]].

The seven books in the series have been fabulously successful, selling 300 million copies, and ''[[Forbes]]'' estimates that they have made Rowling the first billion-dollar [[author]] in history.<ref>[http://www.forbes.com/maserati/billionaires2004/cx_jw_0226rowlingbill04.html J. K. Rowling And The Billion-Dollar Empire].</ref> To date, five of them have been made into movies, the sixth to begin filming September 2007.

The ''Harry Potter'' series of [[book]]s are sizable volumes. The 870 pages of ''Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'', even though printed in large type, contain 255,000 words—about twice as long as ''A Tale of Two Cities''. The "Lexile" measure of reading level puts the series between 880L and 950L,<ref>For comparison: ''Charlotte's Web'' 680L, ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' 890L, ''Moby Dick'' 1200L</ref> comparable to sixth-grade texts<ref>[http://www.lexile.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?view=fa&tabindex=4&tabid=22 The Lexile framework for reading].</ref>

== Christian Theme in ''Harry Potter'' ==
{{spoiler}}

Despite some criticism from mainline Christians who oppose ''Harry Potter'' for allegedly endorsing witchcraft, the series includes some aspects that parallel Christianity. Harry's death and rebirth at the end of Book VII (''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'') can be seen as mirroring the rebirth of [[Christ]]. Just as the savior of humanity was reborn, so Harry Potter, as the fictional savior of the magical world, is reborn. Further, this rebirth carries a special, significant guardianship trait: as Christ died to forgive the sins of humanity, resulting in salvation for all mankind, so Harry's death grants a protective magic to himself and to his friends. It could be said that ''Harry Potter'' teaches the nobility of meaningful sacrifice. No similar traces of Christian allegory can be found in the first six books, only in the final chapters of the seventh.

An alternate interpretation of the Harry Potter books is that the villain, Tom Marvolo Riddle, is himself a parody of the Trinity. <ref>http://www.exposingsatanism.org/harrypotter2.htm</ref> In this reading of the books, the "villains" are analogues for Christ, the Trinity and named angels and prophets. His battles with Harry and the magical world are meant to depict God being thwarted by witchcraft and paganism.

==Praise==
{{spoiler}}

The Harry Potter series has earned a lot of praise for some (but not all) of the moral messages it conveys to readers. A theme throughout the series is Hermione Granger's fight to acheive equal rights for non-wizards, house elves in particular. However, the books also snub political correctness, shown when Hermione tries to free the house elves working at Hogwarts to no avail, who are happy and content with their job. While Hermione's attempt to raise house elves to equal status with wizards is praiseworthy, her attempts to 'free' house elves at the price of their own happiness is not.

The books also encourage readers to turn away from the temptation of evil. Throughout the series Harry is shown to have powers viewed as dark and evil, including a direct link to Voldemort's mind. Despite this, however, he is never tempted to become evil himself as Dumbledore thought he might.

==Criticisms==

The ''Harry Potter'' series is written in a way that embeds fantasy and wizardry into a real world setting. This could potentially lead to some children potentially exploring witchcraft, Wicca, and paganism. Indeed, the Pagan Federation in Britain has received a flood of inquiries from young ''Harry Potter'' fans.<ref>About.com: Agnosticism/Atheism - [http://atheism.about.com/od/harrypotter/i/witchcraft_2.htm Does Harry Potter Promote Wicca or Witchcraft? Is Harry Potter a Pagan Book?] (page 2)</ref>

The [[Catholic Church]] has taken a more neutral position. In 2003, a Vatican representative said the books, "aren't serving as the banner for an anti-Christian theology.... I don't think there's anyone in this room who grew up without fairies, magic, and angels in their imaginary world." <ref>Sink, Mindy (2003), "The Split Verdict on Harry Potter,"
''The New York Times,'' March 8, 2003, p. B6; representative quoted is Rev. Don Peter Fleetwood, who "helped draft a Vatican document on New Age phenomena."</ref>

Some expect children's literature to present characters that are role models and teach simple truths that will help children grow and know the difference between right and wrong. However, the world of ''Harry Potter'' is one in which adult authority figures are complex, imperfect, and occasionally ludicrous. Some teachers in the series are boring, or outright incompetent, while others are supportive and protective (like [[Dumbledore]] and [[Lupin]]). In the first book Harry disobeys the teachers and is successful and later praised, a questionable message for younger minds.

==Literary Criticisms==
{{spoiler}}

It is also possible to accuse the author of poor planning or writing. Throughout the series a constant theme is the almost criminal incompetence of the Ministry of Magic. We are told at various stages throughout the book that some of Voldemorts followers managed to escape justice by lying to the courts that they were controlled by the Imperius curse. However, in book four it is revealed that there is a potion which forces the victim to tell the truth. Why, therefore, didn't the Ministry use this potion on the defendants to find out if they were really controlled or not? This would have led to their imprisonment, preventing them from assisting Voldemort to return to full strength. The use of this potion would also have allowed the Ministry to find out about Peter Pettigrew's betrayal, perhaps leading to his arrest and preventing him from assisting Voldemort to regain his strength (Pettigrew was the man who found Voldemort and nursed him back to a state of health from which it was possible for him to prepare for his rise to power). It is possible that J K Rowling had not thought of this potion at the start of the series, causing her to introduce a near Deus-Ex-Machina miracle on behalf of the evil side. It is also possible that something that forces someone to tell the truth could be tampered with by persons who handle the potion in question. This could lead to the victim telling only part-truths or even fabricating the entire story. In this case, it is acceptable to assume that something as unreliable as magic potions cannot be considered legalized court evidence.

==Notable Ban Attempts==

On the week of April 10, 2006, Georgia mother of four Laura Mallory filed an appeal with the Gwinnett Board of Education in an attempt to remove the ''Harry Potter'' series from Gwinnett schools. Ms. Mallory (who has only read excerpts of the books) stated on the appeal form that she wished the books removed due to their "evil themes, witchcraft, demonic activity, murder, evil blood sacrifice, spells and teaching children all of this."<ref>[http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=32&url_subchannel_id=&url_article_id=14074&change_well_id=2]</ref> The local board of education denied the request, as they felt the banning of ''Harry Potter'' would necessitate the banning of all books with reference to witches, including plays like ''[[Macbeth]]'' and even stories like [[Cinderella]].<ref>[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15127464/ Georgia mom seeks ban on Harry Potter]</ref> Ms. Mallory has since appealed the ruling twice to no avail.<ref>[http://www.wtvm.com/Global/story.asp?S=5022462&nav=8fap]</ref> <ref>[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16204853/from/]</ref> <ref>[http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/education/stories/011807dnentpotterprotest.a89cec.html]</ref>

Similar concerns have been voiced by Christian cartoonist [[Jack Chick]], pastor and author [[Dave Hunt]], the British group [[Christian Voice]] and various others. None of these has resulted in any form of legal action.

==Series titles==
*''[[Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone]]'' (original title as published in England and all other English-speaking countries other than U.S.A: ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'')
*''[[Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets]]''
*''[[Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban]]''
*''[[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire]]''
*''[[Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix]]''
*''[[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince]]''
*''[[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows]]''

Also, three companion books have been made to go along with the series: ''The Tale of the Beedle the Bard'', ''Quidditch Through the Ages'', and ''Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them''. ''Quidditch Through the Ages'' and ''Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'' are both written under pen names, but all three are written by J.K. Rowling. <ref>www.jkrowling.org</ref>

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Harry Potter Universe]]
[[Category:Novels]]
[[Category:Ghost Stories]]

Music

2009-06-24T16:59:29Z

SatanWorshiper: /* The power of music over human emotion */

[[Image:Music..jpg|right|240px]]
{{etymology|From Middle English ''musik'', from Anglo-French ''musike'', from [[Latin]] ''musica'', from [[Greek]] μουσικη ''mousike''}}
[[Music]] as an [[art]], is a form consisting entirely of organized [[sound]] interspersed with periods of silence.<ref>[http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?sourceid=Mozilla-search&va=Music Music] defined in the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.</ref> It takes its name from nine [[Greek mythology|Greek]] goddesses known as the ''[[Muses]]'', who specialized in stimulation of an artist's or poet's mind.

Music is known for its ability to stir human emotion, and its effects on the human brain are believed to be more profound than those produced by other art forms. <ref>Oliver Sacks, ''Musicophilia''</ref>. This ability of music to affect one's mental state has allowed it to be used as a form of therapy for patients with mental illnesses such as [[schizophrenia]]. Music is also considered to be humankind's oldest art form, and is common to almost all known human cultures.

== What is music? ==
[[Image:Opera Rossini.jpg|thumb|300px|Opera by Rossini.]]
Music is difficult to define, as it is difficult to extricate a clinical definition of the word from the inherent value judgments that accompany it. In everyday usage, the word "music" is understood to be sounds which are organized to enthrall and move the listener, in contrast to "noise" which is unorganized sound producing no particular effect. Inevitably, some music (particularly some types of modern music) is described as "noise" or "not music" by listeners who do not enjoy or understand it. What appears as music to one person may be interpreted as noise to another, and vice versa, as interpretation of sounds, whether organised or disorganised, dissonant or harmonious, may arouse different sorts of feelings in a listener.

Common definitions therefore include "organized sound" or "art in the medium of sound". But even these do not encompass some avant-garde works, such as John Cage's ''4'33'''', which contains no notes and instead comprises whatever background sounds happen to occur during a performance.

Note that music is ''not'' limited to such sounds that a human being might produce by fashioning an instrument for the making of a simplified or otherwise organized sound and then "playing" said instrument. The chirping of birds and certain insects may properly be called music, especially if the sound produced is particularly pleasant to the listener. Furthermore, some of the most sophisticated music attempts to imitate the sounds made by birds, insects, and other animals.

== Basic music theory ==
: ''Main Article: [[Music theory]]''
The basic building blocks of Western music comprise ''tones/notes'', ''melodies'', [[counterpoint|''counterpoint'']], ''harmony'' and ''rhythm''. A ''tone'' is the purest form of sound, having a single [[frequency]]. However, pure tones do not occur in music. In practice, tones present themselves to the human ear together with ''overtones'', which typically are small-[[integer]] multiples of the basic frequency (the ''fundamental tone''). These overtones are what give each instrument (or, in the case of voices, each vowel) its characteristic sound. A trumpet and a violin playing the same pitch will be clearly distinguished because the relative strengths of their overtones are different. In human speech and singing, the long vowels U (oo), O (oh) and A (aw) have stronger low overtones, while the vowels E (ee) and I (eye) have stronger higher overtones. You can hear this for yourself by pronouncing an "ooh" vowel and very slowly shifting to an "ee" vowel while carefully listening to the sound produced.

=== Notes, intervals, and scales ===
[[Image:Musicalnotes.jpg|right]]
Two tones played together form an [[interval (music)|''interval'']]. The simplest of all intervals is the ''[[octave]]'', formed by two tones, one of whose frequencies is the exact double of the other. The full collection of tones that one can play between the two notes of an octave is called a ''[[musical scale|scale]].'' In Western music, most scales are ''semi-tonal'', with twelve tones between the octave notes. (The high end of the octave is considered a repetition of the low end, but at twice the frequency.) [[Oriental]] music commonly has ''quarter-tonal'' scales, with twenty-four separate tones within an octave. Quarter tones are often difficult to distinguish for a Western listener, and such music, as a result, tends to suggest the sinuous movement of a snake.

The [[Greece|Greeks]] recognized early that fundamental tones in music have a simple and strict [[mathematics|mathematical]] relationship. As mentioned, the octave consists of two notes, one at double the frequency of the other. At ''triple'' the frequency, one hears a low fundamental tone, and a higher tone that is past the octave but roughly midway toward the second octave. If one then divides the high-tone frequency by two, one creates the interval called the ''perfect fifth'' or ''dominant'' interval, one of the most common intervals used in Western music. One can test this relationship by striking a note on a [[piano]] while holding down another key that is one octave higher than the perfect fifth. The second note will sound in sympathy with the first—because it is resonating with the overtone from the first note.

=== Melody and counterpoint ===
''Melody'' is the series of notes that most closely captures the attention of the listener: the 'tune' one hums along with.

''Counterpoint'' is a specific technique for creating secondary melodies that intertwine with and complement the main melody. In most music since the 17th century, including modern popular music, the bass line is written in counterpoint with the most prominent melody. Another example from the popular tradition would be dueling guitar leads. The best representation of counterpoint in classical music is considered to be the [[fugue]], a very strict form which is best exemplified by [[Johann Sebastien Bach]].

===Harmony===
When two or more notes sound at the same time, it is called a [[chord (music)|chord]] , and the distance between the notes is the interval. In the western 12-note scale common usage, an interval is often expressed in relative terms, using the eight notes that make up an octave and prefixing 'major' or 'minor' to account for the interstitial notes. For instance, the interval between 'C' and 'E' is a 3rd because 'E' is the 3rd note in the major scale of C. One-half step below that is a minor 3rd, although this exact same note could also be called an augmented 2nd.

[[Harmony]] is the study of notes which occur together or which are perceived as being together. This usually means notes which are played simultaneously, as in a chord, but can also apply to notes within a melody which outline a chord. The harmony that results from the combination of any two or more notes depends on the interval present between those notes. A system of Roman numerals is the most common means used to analyse harmony.
[[Image:In concert Jean Claude Gaugy.jpg|left|220px]]
Many of the feelings and emotions that music can evoke are a result of the tension between the consonant (pleasant) sound of some intervals, and the dissonant sound of others. During the development of western music, certain rules were established for proper harmony, and these rules specified how intervals (chords) could change over time in the music.

For example, the interval of the 3rd is one of the most common and consonant in classical (and popular) music. But in the medieval music, 3rd were deemed to be dissonant. While they still occurred, particularly in English music more than continental European music, they would 'resolve' to a 5th, which was considered a purer interval. In classical music, the open 5th is considered to sound too bare and exposed. Until the sixteenth century, chords containing certain intervals, like 7ths, were required to resolve to the more harmonious octave, while other intervals, like diminished 5ths, were deemed ugly and even considered evil, and banned from use in liturgical music. In fact, the diminished fifth (or augmented fourth) was referred to as the ''diabolus in musica'' (literally, 'the devil in music'), as was believed to represent Satan. Today, in writing counterpoint, students are taught not to write lines which leap between or outline the diminished fifth, although this is now for musical rather than superstitious reasons.

Throughout the classical and romantic eras, the harmonic language used by composers was gradually expanded, becoming increasingly complex and free. By the time of the early twentieth century, certain composers like [[Arnold Schoenberg]] broke away from traditional tonality entirely, and pioneered the use of atonal harmony.

=== Rhythm ===
''Rhythm'' consists of all aspects of music that suggest ''forward movement.'' Most music contains a regularly repeating sequence of ''beats'', or strong elements, that typically lead with a ''down beat'' followed by any of a small number of slightly weaker beats. A down beat and its weaker beats form a ''measure.'' Usually, all measures in a piece of music have the same number of beats.

A note in music is described not only by pitch, or frequency, but also by duration. Notes in Western music have names that typically describe how long they would sound in a typical measure. ''Whole notes'' are so called because normally they would sound for the full measure. ''Half notes'' would sound for half the measure, ''quarter notes'' for a fourth of the measure, and so on. A note may also carry a ''dot'' to the right of it, that indicates that the note is to sound for one and one-half times its usual duration.

Any one of these notes may carry a beat, and a measure may have any number of beats. Thus every piece of music commonly carries at least one [[meter signature|''time signature'']] describing how many beats a measure has, and which type of note carries one beat. The most common time is "four-quarter time" (four beats per measure, with the beat given to the quarter note), which is therefore called "common time." Other commonly used time signatures include three-quarter, six-eighth, nine-eighth, or two-half (called ''Alla breve'' or "cut time"). Even rarer are the time signatures with prime numbers of beats (other than three-quarter), including five-quarter or even eleven-eighth.

''Tempo'' ([[Italian]] for "time") describes how frequently the beats occur. The typical tempo signature is a drawing of the note that has the beat, followed by the number of beats per minute.

Notes may be ''accented'' at any time. In fact, often the accent will fall on the weak beat and make the beats seem to sound out-of-sequence. The result is ''syncopated'' rhythm.

Some sub-genres of [[rock and roll]] feature a ''backbeat.''<ref>[http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/200x/2003/12/07/RockRules Normative Backbeat] at Tbray.org</ref> These are the second and fourth beats, in four-quarter time, unstressed in classical usage, which become stressed even more strongly than the down beat. An especially prominent backbeat is a defining feature of reggae and ska music.

== Types of instruments ==
: ''Main Article: [[Musical instruments]]''

== History ==
[[Image:Musica Cassell.jpg|right|thumb|300px]]
Evidence of musical activity is present in all known human cultures. The earliest known complete piece of music is the ''Epitaph of Seikilos'', carved in stone in Greece some time around the first century AD. Thereafter, the most complete historical record of musical development is European sacred music. Plainchant, or [[Gregorian]] chant, was first codified in the sixth century - although it had existed for many years prior to that - and from the 11th century onwards plainchant formed the basis for the earliest known use of harmony.

The Greeks, when [[Alexander the Great]] accepted the surrender of [[Jerusalem]] in his wars of conquest, introduced their own brand of music to the region—which the Jews largely resisted. But music was highly prominent throughout the Greek world—and later in the [[Rome|Roman]] world following Rome's conquest of Greece. The Greeks' contributions to music theory influenced artists for centuries to come, and still have a strong influence today, especially on composers who prefer to adhere to the classical traditions of music.

The earliest Greek music was associated with Greek [[theater]]. Beginning with the fall of Rome, however, music became largely liturgical. The primary influence remained the [[Roman Catholic Church]] until the twin movements of the Renaissance and the Reformation, each of which introduced a countervailing tradition.

From that time forward, most scholars divide music into "classical" music (composed primarily to achieve a high art) and "popular" music (composed for the masses and tending to achieve wide, but ephemeral, appeal).<ref>[http://www.thefreedictionary.com/popular%20music Popular music] defined at the Free Dictionary</ref>

"Classical music" tends to rely more on written notation, as a piece of classical music is generally held to transcend any particular interpretation of it. In current practice, such music is performed in concerts where the audience is expected to remain respectfully silent and the performers dress formally; however, in the past such music was often performed at salons and other informal private gatherings. In addition, the increasing importance of the written transmission of such music has reduced the role of improvisation, which was extremely important through the beginning of the "Romantic" era. Classical music also displays great musical complexity through the use of varied rhythms, chord progressions, counterpoint, and other compositional techniques, while maintaining a deep emotional content.

"Popular music" on the other hand, tends to be more accessible to the general public through the use of simpler forms and relatively simple compositional techniques. Much popular music is the product of modern business enterprise, as opposed to folk music (created by ordinary people for their own enjoyment) or classical music (which was originally written for religious practice or for the entertainment of the nobility).

These two genres; however, are not necessarily distinct, as composers such as [[Johann Sebastian Bach|Bach]] and [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]] would often incorporate themes from "popular music" of their time into their works. Other classical composers like [[Maurice Ravel|Ravel]] and [[George Gershwin|Gershwin]] were well-known for their use of jazz idiom in works like the Concerto in F for Piano and Orchestra and [[Rhapsody in Blue]]. On the other hand, popular music has borrowed many themes from classical works (one notable example is "A Whiter Shade of Pale" by [[Procol Harum]]). In addition, "popular music" is not necessarily simpler than classical, as forms like jazz and progressive rock make use of complex time signatures that do not often occur in classical works, and some popular musicians like [[Frank Zappa]] are considered serious composers in their own right.

== Music in the Bible ==

The [[Bible]] suggests that music actually began in [[heaven]]. It credits [[Satan|Lucifer]] as being the first musician, and [[Jubal]], son of [[Lamech the Murderer]] by his wife [[Adah]], with introducing music to mankind.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Genesis|chap=5|verses=19-21|version=KJV}}</ref>

King [[David]], at the height of his reign, is said to have had a ''four-thousand-voice choir'' to assist in the worship of [[God]]. The Book of [[Psalms]] is a collection of lyrics composed by David for some of the first worship songs in Israelite tradition. The [[Song of Solomon]] may also have been intended to be sung.

Mentions of "singing to the Lord" abound in the [[Old Testament]]. The most specific testimony to the power of music over human emotions is surely contained in the story of King [[Saul]] and how he came to recruit the young [[David]] as his armorbearer and personal musician.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=I_Samuel|chap=16|verses=14-23|version=KJV}}</ref> It has also been theorised that the original meaning of the verb "to prophecy" was "to make music".

== Classical and popular music ==

The division of music into "classical" and "popular" is, like the definition of music itself, a source of controversy. To group music into one category or the other is problematic, as there is an implied value judgment between the two. [[Jazz]], for example, began as a fusion of marching band music (which is close to the classical tradition), folk music, such as the Blues (which is closer to popular music), and ragtime (which was popular music at the time but which is now more often grouped with the classics). Jazz music itself was firmly grouped in the popular tradition until World War Two, but offshoots of it have since become much closer in style to contemporary classical music.

Common criteria used to distinguish between classical and contemporary music are often unreliable, as both can be used for entertainment, for worship, to accompany other art forms such as theatre, for dancing, to relax or motivate people, and for the purpose of making money.

Both forms of music can be used as propaganda, as in some of the works of [[Dmitri Shostakovich]] (although this is debated; see the article on Shostakovich for a more complete discussion).

Many types of music have been used to accompany dancing. This was as true in the past as it is today, all over the world, whether in the discos of American nightclubs or the salsa bars of Latin America. Today, people may [[dance]] to Maddonna (the female recording artist), while a generation ago people were dancing to the works of Duke Ellington and Sammy Nestico. Before that, the waltzes of Strauss were popular, while in the Baroque era (1650-1750), the dance suite was a popular compositional form. Dancing to music, whether melodic or rhythmic in nature, often plays a ritualistic role in societies across the world. Music and dance have been central to the rites of many religions and can be found in some Christian religious traditions as well.

== Possible healing effects ==
The recent case of a choir consisting primarily of sufferers from various neurological [[disease]]s and some of their caregivers, friends and associates, has highlighted recent evidence that performing music, or even listening to it, might actually help to heal the [[brain]], in addition to providing helpful emotional support to the disease sufferers. Music appears to stimulate the brain to find supplemental neural pathways to route around a region of damage. Benefits have been observed in patients suffering from [[stroke]], [[Parkinson's Disease]], and other degenerative neurological disorders.<ref name=cnn>Hooper S, "Music a 'mega-vitamin' for the brain," Cable News Network, 2 June 2009. Accesssed 3 June 2009. <http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/06/02/music.therapy/index.html?eref=rss_latest></ref>

== The power of music over human emotion ==
[[Image:Owana Salazar Classic Music.jpeg|right|240px]]
Music has a very powerful effect on the emotions of the listener. Music relies on [[sound]], and if "faith comes through hearing," then so does emotion. Music can instantly bring joy or sorrow, ecstasy or despair, and far more quickly than can any other form of art. Many musical composers insist that their music merely expresses emotions. This does not do music justice. Music does more than express emotions; it induces them.<ref>[http://www.musica.uci.edu/mrn/V3I1S96.html MuSICA Notes III(1), Spring 1996]</ref>

The amateur botanist Dorothy L. Retallack, in 1973, claimed to have found that music can have an effect on plants. "Positive" music (that produces joy or contentment) supposedly made plants flourish and even "reach" for, or grow toward, such music. Negative music (that produces frustration, restlessness, or especially anger and rage) supposedly caused plants to "recoil" (grow away) from the music, and prolonged or repeated exposure debilitates and eventually killed plants, or so she said.<ref>Retallack, Dorothy L. ''The Sound of Music and Plants''. Devorss and Company, June 1973, 96 pp., paperback. ISBN 0875161707</ref><ref>[http://www.dovesong.com/positive_music/ About Positive and Negative Music] from the Dovesong Foundation</ref>

No botanist has ever reproduced Retallack's claimed results. But the effects on animals and humans are far better documented and much more profound than any effect on plants that Retallack ever claimed. That animals, and especially [[dog]]s and [[cat]]s, recoil in horror from the sound of a poorly trained voice, is proverbial (and in fact the animals might be reacting to a sound that is not merely grating but acutely and physically painful to their ears). The Dovesong Foundation has found evidence for musical preferences by cattle<ref>[http://www.dovesong.com/positive_music/archives/basement/Cows%20and%20Classical%20Music.asp Cows Prefer Classical Music]</ref> and cetaceans.<ref>[http://www.dovesong.com/positive_music/archives/basement/Steinhart_Dolphins.asp Dolphins Don't Like Rock] (The article refers to the classic [[dolphin]] (family [[Cetacea]]), aka "porpoise," not the fish of that name.)</ref>

Music has also had a profound and well-documented effect in human history. The history of warfare includes a rich history of martial music. More recently, music has now found a use in the healing of negative emotional states and even as an aid to the healing of physical disabilities.<ref>[http://www.musictherapy.org/ The American Music Therapy Association]</ref>

Commercial enterprises always attempt, at great expense of time, money, and effort, to find and deploy forms of music that will enhance worker productivity or cause prospective customers to behave in a manner calculated to make them purchase their goods and/or services. The pop selections played in supermarkets are a prime example.
Music played over [[public address]] systems is also used to dissuade [[youth]]s from loitering around [[shopping center]]s and [[railway station]]s.

Music has always been an adjunct to [[theater]]. This is especially true of the performing arts called ''[[opera]]'' and ''[[ballet]]'', but applies also to the use of music as an adjunct to a theatrical production, whether on the stage, as a [[motion picture]], or as a [[television]] show.

Music also has an obvious use in [[propaganda]], in which the propagandist seeks to manipulate people's emotions and stir them typically to rage and hostility against certain groups.

Yet for all this, music is still important in worship. If it were not, then it would not have received the favorable attention that the [[Bible]] clearly gives to it. As powerful a force for evil as it might be, music can be an equally powerful force to encourage the listener to worship, appreciate, and above all obey God and keep His laws--at least, as best as any human being is able.

:::::: ''Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.'' Berthold Auerbach.

=== Is music neutral? ===
For a detailed answer, see [[Essay:Music is not neutral]].

== Traditions and principles for liturgical music ==
[[Saint Paul]] specifically exhorts his readers to employ music, and specifically "psalms, hymns, and spiritual odes," to bring them closer to God.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Ephesians|chap=5|verses=19|version=KJV}}</ref> <ref>{{Bible ref|book=Colossians|chap=3|verses=16|version=KJV}}</ref> In this context, a ''psalm'' is not necessarily a chapter out of the Book of [[Psalms]]; it can be any song that primarily quotes any part of Scripture. ''Hymns'' are songs primarily of praise and magnification of [[God]]; they do not, however, directly quote Scripture in most of their lyrics, as "psalms" do. ''Spiritual odes'' are primarily personal testimonies, either of salvation or of one's own perception of God. ''[[Amazing Grace]]'', by [[John Newton]], is a prime example. ''It Is Well With My Soul'', by [[Horatio Spafford]], is one song that has features of a hymn ''and'' a spiritual ode.

[[John Wesley]] too sought spirituality through music and wrote in his Directions for Singing that "Above all, sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing Him more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to do this, attend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see that your heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually." <ref>http://users.mstar2.net/brucewrites/rules.htm</ref>

The Rev. Alan B. Brown, MDiv, ThM, has studied liturgical music extensively. In his view.<ref>Brown, Alan B.: telephone interview conducted on 1 March 2007 with user [[User:TerryH|TerryH]]</ref> liturgical music ought to satisfy three prime tests:

# Are the lyrics ''accurate'', either when they quote Scripture or reflect [[Christian]] principles?
# Can you properly ''associate'' the lyrics and/or the notes with Godly things, as opposed to worldly things?
# Are the lyrics and/or the notes ''appropriate'' for worship in general, and in the setting of a particular celebration?

The actual notes to the tunes that, say, King David's choir might have sung, or his royal orchestra might have produced, are lost to us today. But the titles of many of the Psalms contain specific instructions, originally to the music director at King David's court, as to the type of tune and the types of instruments required. Archaeologists have recovered coins and other artifacts depicting musical instruments and musicians from various digs in [[Israel]]. The detail has often enabled inventors to reconstruct the instruments likely used by the court orchestras of Kings David and [[Solomon]].<ref name=Rubin>Rubin, Norman A. "[http://www.bibarch.com/Music/Music%20and%20the%20Bible.htm Musical Instruments in Biblical Israel]." ''[http://www.bibarch.com/ Biblical Archaeology]''. Accessed June 2, 2008</ref>

Hymnists of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries often set the Psalms and other portions of Scripture to music, often with very good effect. The best-known example is the ''Doxology'' (literally, "study in glory") that is a paraphrase of Psalm 100; the tune is called "Old Hundredth" and remains popular today.

== Controversies surrounding music today ==
[[Image:Harrison-Rucker-Barefoot-Recital.jpg|left|200px]]
Music perhaps has always been controversial, but the controversies surrounding music today rage with particular vehemence. The question of what is, and what is not, music is relatively tame. Different composers have always experimented with different music conventions, and always will. (And perhaps they must.) Many such experiments fail, in that the works produced draw only small audiences, and ultimately no one will play them, because no one will pay to listen to them or to have them played for other people. However, whether or not the 'success' of a musical venture can be ascertained based on the size of the audience it draws is somewhat tenuous, as music subject to much critical acclaim can often be shunned by the wider public in favor of more heavily promoted music.

Rather, the most raging controversy concerns certain genres of popular music that have provoked adverse political comment precisely because of the emotions they incite and the themes they sound, both in lyrics and in notes. Some parents of adolescent and pre-adolescent children object to music that explicitly (mainly through its lyrics) exhorts its listeners to sexual sin. Members of various political interest groups object to music that they believe provokes its listeners to show ''disrespect'' for members of those groups.

Some listeners and music critics defend music as "amoral," that is, morally neutral. They maintain that music exists only for people to enjoy, not to make a political point. Any morality found in the music, they argue, is a result of what the listener imparts onto the music. For some, indeed, music is an escape. To them, one who tries to infer a serious purpose in a given piece of music ought to abandon the attempt and simply enjoy it for what it is. This attitude recalls [[Mark Twain|Mark Twain's]] famous introduction to [[The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn]]:<blockquote>PERSONS attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot. BY ORDER OF THE AUTHOR, Per G.G., Chief of Ordnance.</blockquote>

The reaction of so many interested parties to various types of popular music today would seem to militate against that stance. Indeed, history is replete with examples of various pieces of music from earlier eras inciting their listeners to violence; [[Maurice Ravel|Maurice Ravel's]] signature work ''Bolero'', for example, was known to incite riots<ref>[http://www.kalvos.org/bazzr086.html Essay 86: Bolero v. Gliere, Round 1] by David Gunn, at Kalvos & Damian's New Music Bazaar</ref>, as was [[Igor Stravinsky|Igor Stravinsky's]] work ''The Rite of Spring'' (though this may have been due to the fact that atonal music was not accepted as good music, or even music at all during that time period).<ref>[http://www.nottinghamphilharmonic.co.uk/notes/SRS.html The Rite of Spring] by the Nottingham Philharmonic Orchestra</ref>

Riots have also broken out at many rock-and-roll concerts, and often the responding law-enforcement authorities have been at a loss to determine the ultimate causes of those riots. The ''proximate'' cause typically is a one-on-one fight in which other concert attendees joined in—but what put the original combatants into a fighting mood, or causes others to join a fight that was, strictly speaking, not theirs, is far more difficult to explain. Perhaps too many of the listeners are worshiping the performers as if they were [[pagan]] [[idol]]s—a circumstance that, some say, composers like [[Franz Liszt]] and [[Nicolo Paganini]] had to contend with or even chose to exploit. Perhaps the causes have as much to do with the subculture of which rock-and-roll music is a part, as with the music itself. Then, too, no [[physician]] has ever investigated the chronic, or long-standing, effects of a steady [[aural]] diet of different genres of music—beyond expressing concern that many listeners are listening to their music too loud and damaging their hearing with the sheer physical stress of the loud sounds. The only signs that anyone can study, if they are signs of anything at all, are the statistics concerning psychological stress affecting, and substance abuse by, performers of various types of music. (Riots do not routinely break out at classical performances—at least, not since the ''Rite of Spring'' riot mentioned above. This might simply be due to wild behavior not being normative on the part of those who routinely patronize such music.)

Throughout world history, "new" music (which 200 years later may be considered classical or traditions) has often elicited the claim "dangerous" "sexually perverse" and "against human nature". Both Mozart and Beethoven were regarded as dangerous, and the entire "major chord" system was offensive to early Christian ears. Music from other cultures, seen by some as merely different or ethnic, is often labeled dangerous or simply "noise" by outside cultures.

== See also ==

*[[Classical music]]
*[[Joaquín Rodrigo]]
*[[Famous Art]]

== External link ==

*[http://www.essortment.com/in/Music.History/index.htm History of Musical Styles and Time Periods]
*[http://library.thinkquest.org/15413/history/music-history.htm Music history]

== References ==
{{reflist|2}}

[[Category:Art]]
[[Category:Culture]]
[[Category:Musical terms]]
[[Category:Featured articles]]

Music

2009-06-24T16:56:52Z

SatanWorshiper: /* Controversies surrounding music today */

[[Image:Music..jpg|right|240px]]
{{etymology|From Middle English ''musik'', from Anglo-French ''musike'', from [[Latin]] ''musica'', from [[Greek]] μουσικη ''mousike''}}
[[Music]] as an [[art]], is a form consisting entirely of organized [[sound]] interspersed with periods of silence.<ref>[http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?sourceid=Mozilla-search&va=Music Music] defined in the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.</ref> It takes its name from nine [[Greek mythology|Greek]] goddesses known as the ''[[Muses]]'', who specialized in stimulation of an artist's or poet's mind.

Music is known for its ability to stir human emotion, and its effects on the human brain are believed to be more profound than those produced by other art forms. <ref>Oliver Sacks, ''Musicophilia''</ref>. This ability of music to affect one's mental state has allowed it to be used as a form of therapy for patients with mental illnesses such as [[schizophrenia]]. Music is also considered to be humankind's oldest art form, and is common to almost all known human cultures.

== What is music? ==
[[Image:Opera Rossini.jpg|thumb|300px|Opera by Rossini.]]
Music is difficult to define, as it is difficult to extricate a clinical definition of the word from the inherent value judgments that accompany it. In everyday usage, the word "music" is understood to be sounds which are organized to enthrall and move the listener, in contrast to "noise" which is unorganized sound producing no particular effect. Inevitably, some music (particularly some types of modern music) is described as "noise" or "not music" by listeners who do not enjoy or understand it. What appears as music to one person may be interpreted as noise to another, and vice versa, as interpretation of sounds, whether organised or disorganised, dissonant or harmonious, may arouse different sorts of feelings in a listener.

Common definitions therefore include "organized sound" or "art in the medium of sound". But even these do not encompass some avant-garde works, such as John Cage's ''4'33'''', which contains no notes and instead comprises whatever background sounds happen to occur during a performance.

Note that music is ''not'' limited to such sounds that a human being might produce by fashioning an instrument for the making of a simplified or otherwise organized sound and then "playing" said instrument. The chirping of birds and certain insects may properly be called music, especially if the sound produced is particularly pleasant to the listener. Furthermore, some of the most sophisticated music attempts to imitate the sounds made by birds, insects, and other animals.

== Basic music theory ==
: ''Main Article: [[Music theory]]''
The basic building blocks of Western music comprise ''tones/notes'', ''melodies'', [[counterpoint|''counterpoint'']], ''harmony'' and ''rhythm''. A ''tone'' is the purest form of sound, having a single [[frequency]]. However, pure tones do not occur in music. In practice, tones present themselves to the human ear together with ''overtones'', which typically are small-[[integer]] multiples of the basic frequency (the ''fundamental tone''). These overtones are what give each instrument (or, in the case of voices, each vowel) its characteristic sound. A trumpet and a violin playing the same pitch will be clearly distinguished because the relative strengths of their overtones are different. In human speech and singing, the long vowels U (oo), O (oh) and A (aw) have stronger low overtones, while the vowels E (ee) and I (eye) have stronger higher overtones. You can hear this for yourself by pronouncing an "ooh" vowel and very slowly shifting to an "ee" vowel while carefully listening to the sound produced.

=== Notes, intervals, and scales ===
[[Image:Musicalnotes.jpg|right]]
Two tones played together form an [[interval (music)|''interval'']]. The simplest of all intervals is the ''[[octave]]'', formed by two tones, one of whose frequencies is the exact double of the other. The full collection of tones that one can play between the two notes of an octave is called a ''[[musical scale|scale]].'' In Western music, most scales are ''semi-tonal'', with twelve tones between the octave notes. (The high end of the octave is considered a repetition of the low end, but at twice the frequency.) [[Oriental]] music commonly has ''quarter-tonal'' scales, with twenty-four separate tones within an octave. Quarter tones are often difficult to distinguish for a Western listener, and such music, as a result, tends to suggest the sinuous movement of a snake.

The [[Greece|Greeks]] recognized early that fundamental tones in music have a simple and strict [[mathematics|mathematical]] relationship. As mentioned, the octave consists of two notes, one at double the frequency of the other. At ''triple'' the frequency, one hears a low fundamental tone, and a higher tone that is past the octave but roughly midway toward the second octave. If one then divides the high-tone frequency by two, one creates the interval called the ''perfect fifth'' or ''dominant'' interval, one of the most common intervals used in Western music. One can test this relationship by striking a note on a [[piano]] while holding down another key that is one octave higher than the perfect fifth. The second note will sound in sympathy with the first—because it is resonating with the overtone from the first note.

=== Melody and counterpoint ===
''Melody'' is the series of notes that most closely captures the attention of the listener: the 'tune' one hums along with.

''Counterpoint'' is a specific technique for creating secondary melodies that intertwine with and complement the main melody. In most music since the 17th century, including modern popular music, the bass line is written in counterpoint with the most prominent melody. Another example from the popular tradition would be dueling guitar leads. The best representation of counterpoint in classical music is considered to be the [[fugue]], a very strict form which is best exemplified by [[Johann Sebastien Bach]].

===Harmony===
When two or more notes sound at the same time, it is called a [[chord (music)|chord]] , and the distance between the notes is the interval. In the western 12-note scale common usage, an interval is often expressed in relative terms, using the eight notes that make up an octave and prefixing 'major' or 'minor' to account for the interstitial notes. For instance, the interval between 'C' and 'E' is a 3rd because 'E' is the 3rd note in the major scale of C. One-half step below that is a minor 3rd, although this exact same note could also be called an augmented 2nd.

[[Harmony]] is the study of notes which occur together or which are perceived as being together. This usually means notes which are played simultaneously, as in a chord, but can also apply to notes within a melody which outline a chord. The harmony that results from the combination of any two or more notes depends on the interval present between those notes. A system of Roman numerals is the most common means used to analyse harmony.
[[Image:In concert Jean Claude Gaugy.jpg|left|220px]]
Many of the feelings and emotions that music can evoke are a result of the tension between the consonant (pleasant) sound of some intervals, and the dissonant sound of others. During the development of western music, certain rules were established for proper harmony, and these rules specified how intervals (chords) could change over time in the music.

For example, the interval of the 3rd is one of the most common and consonant in classical (and popular) music. But in the medieval music, 3rd were deemed to be dissonant. While they still occurred, particularly in English music more than continental European music, they would 'resolve' to a 5th, which was considered a purer interval. In classical music, the open 5th is considered to sound too bare and exposed. Until the sixteenth century, chords containing certain intervals, like 7ths, were required to resolve to the more harmonious octave, while other intervals, like diminished 5ths, were deemed ugly and even considered evil, and banned from use in liturgical music. In fact, the diminished fifth (or augmented fourth) was referred to as the ''diabolus in musica'' (literally, 'the devil in music'), as was believed to represent Satan. Today, in writing counterpoint, students are taught not to write lines which leap between or outline the diminished fifth, although this is now for musical rather than superstitious reasons.

Throughout the classical and romantic eras, the harmonic language used by composers was gradually expanded, becoming increasingly complex and free. By the time of the early twentieth century, certain composers like [[Arnold Schoenberg]] broke away from traditional tonality entirely, and pioneered the use of atonal harmony.

=== Rhythm ===
''Rhythm'' consists of all aspects of music that suggest ''forward movement.'' Most music contains a regularly repeating sequence of ''beats'', or strong elements, that typically lead with a ''down beat'' followed by any of a small number of slightly weaker beats. A down beat and its weaker beats form a ''measure.'' Usually, all measures in a piece of music have the same number of beats.

A note in music is described not only by pitch, or frequency, but also by duration. Notes in Western music have names that typically describe how long they would sound in a typical measure. ''Whole notes'' are so called because normally they would sound for the full measure. ''Half notes'' would sound for half the measure, ''quarter notes'' for a fourth of the measure, and so on. A note may also carry a ''dot'' to the right of it, that indicates that the note is to sound for one and one-half times its usual duration.

Any one of these notes may carry a beat, and a measure may have any number of beats. Thus every piece of music commonly carries at least one [[meter signature|''time signature'']] describing how many beats a measure has, and which type of note carries one beat. The most common time is "four-quarter time" (four beats per measure, with the beat given to the quarter note), which is therefore called "common time." Other commonly used time signatures include three-quarter, six-eighth, nine-eighth, or two-half (called ''Alla breve'' or "cut time"). Even rarer are the time signatures with prime numbers of beats (other than three-quarter), including five-quarter or even eleven-eighth.

''Tempo'' ([[Italian]] for "time") describes how frequently the beats occur. The typical tempo signature is a drawing of the note that has the beat, followed by the number of beats per minute.

Notes may be ''accented'' at any time. In fact, often the accent will fall on the weak beat and make the beats seem to sound out-of-sequence. The result is ''syncopated'' rhythm.

Some sub-genres of [[rock and roll]] feature a ''backbeat.''<ref>[http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/200x/2003/12/07/RockRules Normative Backbeat] at Tbray.org</ref> These are the second and fourth beats, in four-quarter time, unstressed in classical usage, which become stressed even more strongly than the down beat. An especially prominent backbeat is a defining feature of reggae and ska music.

== Types of instruments ==
: ''Main Article: [[Musical instruments]]''

== History ==
[[Image:Musica Cassell.jpg|right|thumb|300px]]
Evidence of musical activity is present in all known human cultures. The earliest known complete piece of music is the ''Epitaph of Seikilos'', carved in stone in Greece some time around the first century AD. Thereafter, the most complete historical record of musical development is European sacred music. Plainchant, or [[Gregorian]] chant, was first codified in the sixth century - although it had existed for many years prior to that - and from the 11th century onwards plainchant formed the basis for the earliest known use of harmony.

The Greeks, when [[Alexander the Great]] accepted the surrender of [[Jerusalem]] in his wars of conquest, introduced their own brand of music to the region—which the Jews largely resisted. But music was highly prominent throughout the Greek world—and later in the [[Rome|Roman]] world following Rome's conquest of Greece. The Greeks' contributions to music theory influenced artists for centuries to come, and still have a strong influence today, especially on composers who prefer to adhere to the classical traditions of music.

The earliest Greek music was associated with Greek [[theater]]. Beginning with the fall of Rome, however, music became largely liturgical. The primary influence remained the [[Roman Catholic Church]] until the twin movements of the Renaissance and the Reformation, each of which introduced a countervailing tradition.

From that time forward, most scholars divide music into "classical" music (composed primarily to achieve a high art) and "popular" music (composed for the masses and tending to achieve wide, but ephemeral, appeal).<ref>[http://www.thefreedictionary.com/popular%20music Popular music] defined at the Free Dictionary</ref>

"Classical music" tends to rely more on written notation, as a piece of classical music is generally held to transcend any particular interpretation of it. In current practice, such music is performed in concerts where the audience is expected to remain respectfully silent and the performers dress formally; however, in the past such music was often performed at salons and other informal private gatherings. In addition, the increasing importance of the written transmission of such music has reduced the role of improvisation, which was extremely important through the beginning of the "Romantic" era. Classical music also displays great musical complexity through the use of varied rhythms, chord progressions, counterpoint, and other compositional techniques, while maintaining a deep emotional content.

"Popular music" on the other hand, tends to be more accessible to the general public through the use of simpler forms and relatively simple compositional techniques. Much popular music is the product of modern business enterprise, as opposed to folk music (created by ordinary people for their own enjoyment) or classical music (which was originally written for religious practice or for the entertainment of the nobility).

These two genres; however, are not necessarily distinct, as composers such as [[Johann Sebastian Bach|Bach]] and [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]] would often incorporate themes from "popular music" of their time into their works. Other classical composers like [[Maurice Ravel|Ravel]] and [[George Gershwin|Gershwin]] were well-known for their use of jazz idiom in works like the Concerto in F for Piano and Orchestra and [[Rhapsody in Blue]]. On the other hand, popular music has borrowed many themes from classical works (one notable example is "A Whiter Shade of Pale" by [[Procol Harum]]). In addition, "popular music" is not necessarily simpler than classical, as forms like jazz and progressive rock make use of complex time signatures that do not often occur in classical works, and some popular musicians like [[Frank Zappa]] are considered serious composers in their own right.

== Music in the Bible ==

The [[Bible]] suggests that music actually began in [[heaven]]. It credits [[Satan|Lucifer]] as being the first musician, and [[Jubal]], son of [[Lamech the Murderer]] by his wife [[Adah]], with introducing music to mankind.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Genesis|chap=5|verses=19-21|version=KJV}}</ref>

King [[David]], at the height of his reign, is said to have had a ''four-thousand-voice choir'' to assist in the worship of [[God]]. The Book of [[Psalms]] is a collection of lyrics composed by David for some of the first worship songs in Israelite tradition. The [[Song of Solomon]] may also have been intended to be sung.

Mentions of "singing to the Lord" abound in the [[Old Testament]]. The most specific testimony to the power of music over human emotions is surely contained in the story of King [[Saul]] and how he came to recruit the young [[David]] as his armorbearer and personal musician.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=I_Samuel|chap=16|verses=14-23|version=KJV}}</ref> It has also been theorised that the original meaning of the verb "to prophecy" was "to make music".

== Classical and popular music ==

The division of music into "classical" and "popular" is, like the definition of music itself, a source of controversy. To group music into one category or the other is problematic, as there is an implied value judgment between the two. [[Jazz]], for example, began as a fusion of marching band music (which is close to the classical tradition), folk music, such as the Blues (which is closer to popular music), and ragtime (which was popular music at the time but which is now more often grouped with the classics). Jazz music itself was firmly grouped in the popular tradition until World War Two, but offshoots of it have since become much closer in style to contemporary classical music.

Common criteria used to distinguish between classical and contemporary music are often unreliable, as both can be used for entertainment, for worship, to accompany other art forms such as theatre, for dancing, to relax or motivate people, and for the purpose of making money.

Both forms of music can be used as propaganda, as in some of the works of [[Dmitri Shostakovich]] (although this is debated; see the article on Shostakovich for a more complete discussion).

Many types of music have been used to accompany dancing. This was as true in the past as it is today, all over the world, whether in the discos of American nightclubs or the salsa bars of Latin America. Today, people may [[dance]] to Maddonna (the female recording artist), while a generation ago people were dancing to the works of Duke Ellington and Sammy Nestico. Before that, the waltzes of Strauss were popular, while in the Baroque era (1650-1750), the dance suite was a popular compositional form. Dancing to music, whether melodic or rhythmic in nature, often plays a ritualistic role in societies across the world. Music and dance have been central to the rites of many religions and can be found in some Christian religious traditions as well.

== Possible healing effects ==
The recent case of a choir consisting primarily of sufferers from various neurological [[disease]]s and some of their caregivers, friends and associates, has highlighted recent evidence that performing music, or even listening to it, might actually help to heal the [[brain]], in addition to providing helpful emotional support to the disease sufferers. Music appears to stimulate the brain to find supplemental neural pathways to route around a region of damage. Benefits have been observed in patients suffering from [[stroke]], [[Parkinson's Disease]], and other degenerative neurological disorders.<ref name=cnn>Hooper S, "Music a 'mega-vitamin' for the brain," Cable News Network, 2 June 2009. Accesssed 3 June 2009. <http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/06/02/music.therapy/index.html?eref=rss_latest></ref>

== The power of music over human emotion ==
[[Image:Owana Salazar Classic Music.jpeg|right|240px]]
Music has a very powerful effect on the emotions of the listener. Music relies on [[sound]], and if "faith comes through hearing," then so does emotion. Music can instantly bring joy or sorrow, ecstasy or despair, and far more quickly than can any other form of art. Many musical composers insist that their music merely expresses emotions. This does not do music justice. Music does more than express emotions; it induces them.<ref>[http://www.musica.uci.edu/mrn/V3I1S96.html MuSICA Notes III(1), Spring 1996]</ref>

The amateur botanist Dorothy L. Retallack, in 1973, claimed to have found that music can have an effect on plants. "Positive" music (that produces joy or contentment) supposedly made plants flourish and even "reach" for, or grow toward, such music. Negative music (that produces frustration, restlessness, or especially anger and rage) supposedly caused plants to "recoil" (grow away) from the music, and prolonged or repeated exposure debilitates and eventually killed plants, or so she said.<ref>Retallack, Dorothy L. ''The Sound of Music and Plants''. Devorss and Company, June 1973, 96 pp., paperback. ISBN 0875161707</ref><ref>[http://www.dovesong.com/positive_music/ About Positive and Negative Music] from the Dovesong Foundation</ref>

No botanist has ever reproduced Retallack's claimed results. But the effects on animals and humans are far better documented and much more profound than any effect on plants that Retallack ever claimed. That animals, and especially [[dog]]s and [[cat]]s, recoil in horror from the sound of a poorly trained voice, is proverbial (and in fact the animals might be reacting to a sound that is not merely grating but acutely and physically painful to their ears). The Dovesong Foundation has found evidence for musical preferences by cattle<ref>[http://www.dovesong.com/positive_music/archives/basement/Cows%20and%20Classical%20Music.asp Cows Prefer Classical Music]</ref> and cetaceans.<ref>[http://www.dovesong.com/positive_music/archives/basement/Steinhart_Dolphins.asp Dolphins Don't Like Rock] (The article refers to the classic [[dolphin]] (family [[Cetacea]]), aka "porpoise," not the fish of that name.)</ref>

Music has also had a profound and well-documented effect in human history. The history of warfare includes a rich history of martial music. More recently, music has now found a use in the healing of negative emotional states and even as an aid to the healing of physical disabilities.<ref>[http://www.musictherapy.org/ The American Music Therapy Association]</ref>

Commercial enterprises always attempt, at great expense of time, money, and effort, to find and deploy forms of music that will enhance worker productivity or cause prospective customers to behave in a manner calculated to make them purchase their goods and/or services. The pop selections played in supermarkets are a prime example.
Music played over [[public address]] systems is also used to dissuade [[youth]]s from loitering around [[shopping center]]s and [[railway station]]s.

Music has always been an adjunct to [[theater]]. This is especially true of the performing arts called ''[[opera]]'' and ''[[ballet]]'', but applies also to the use of music as an adjunct to a theatrical production, whether on the stage, as a [[motion picture]], or as a [[television]] show.

Music also has an obvious use in [[propaganda]], in which the propagandist seeks to manipulate people's emotions and stir them typically to rage and hostility against certain groups.

Finally, music can strengthen in the listener a curiosity about, or even a desire for, an act of sexual or other [[sin]].<ref>[http://cranach.worldmagblog.com/cranach/archives/2006/08/draft_linking_s.html Linking Sexual Music and Teen Behavior] by Gene Edward Veith at the [http://www.worldmagblog.com World Magazine Blog]</ref><ref>[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=51496 Face the music, parents] at [http://www.worldnetdaily.com/ WorldNetDaily] 12 August 2006</ref> Sadly, this use of music is probably as old as "the oldest profession." Cultural critics observe, pointedly, that permissive cultures have permissive music, and non-permissive cultures avoid such music.

Yet for all this, music is still important in worship. If it were not, then it would not have received the favorable attention that the [[Bible]] clearly gives to it. As powerful a force for evil as it might be, music can be an equally powerful force to encourage the listener to worship, appreciate, and above all obey God and keep His laws--at least, as best as any human being is able.

:::::: ''Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.'' Berthold Auerbach.

=== Is music neutral? ===
For a detailed answer, see [[Essay:Music is not neutral]].

== Traditions and principles for liturgical music ==
[[Saint Paul]] specifically exhorts his readers to employ music, and specifically "psalms, hymns, and spiritual odes," to bring them closer to God.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Ephesians|chap=5|verses=19|version=KJV}}</ref> <ref>{{Bible ref|book=Colossians|chap=3|verses=16|version=KJV}}</ref> In this context, a ''psalm'' is not necessarily a chapter out of the Book of [[Psalms]]; it can be any song that primarily quotes any part of Scripture. ''Hymns'' are songs primarily of praise and magnification of [[God]]; they do not, however, directly quote Scripture in most of their lyrics, as "psalms" do. ''Spiritual odes'' are primarily personal testimonies, either of salvation or of one's own perception of God. ''[[Amazing Grace]]'', by [[John Newton]], is a prime example. ''It Is Well With My Soul'', by [[Horatio Spafford]], is one song that has features of a hymn ''and'' a spiritual ode.

[[John Wesley]] too sought spirituality through music and wrote in his Directions for Singing that "Above all, sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing Him more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to do this, attend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see that your heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually." <ref>http://users.mstar2.net/brucewrites/rules.htm</ref>

The Rev. Alan B. Brown, MDiv, ThM, has studied liturgical music extensively. In his view.<ref>Brown, Alan B.: telephone interview conducted on 1 March 2007 with user [[User:TerryH|TerryH]]</ref> liturgical music ought to satisfy three prime tests:

# Are the lyrics ''accurate'', either when they quote Scripture or reflect [[Christian]] principles?
# Can you properly ''associate'' the lyrics and/or the notes with Godly things, as opposed to worldly things?
# Are the lyrics and/or the notes ''appropriate'' for worship in general, and in the setting of a particular celebration?

The actual notes to the tunes that, say, King David's choir might have sung, or his royal orchestra might have produced, are lost to us today. But the titles of many of the Psalms contain specific instructions, originally to the music director at King David's court, as to the type of tune and the types of instruments required. Archaeologists have recovered coins and other artifacts depicting musical instruments and musicians from various digs in [[Israel]]. The detail has often enabled inventors to reconstruct the instruments likely used by the court orchestras of Kings David and [[Solomon]].<ref name=Rubin>Rubin, Norman A. "[http://www.bibarch.com/Music/Music%20and%20the%20Bible.htm Musical Instruments in Biblical Israel]." ''[http://www.bibarch.com/ Biblical Archaeology]''. Accessed June 2, 2008</ref>

Hymnists of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries often set the Psalms and other portions of Scripture to music, often with very good effect. The best-known example is the ''Doxology'' (literally, "study in glory") that is a paraphrase of Psalm 100; the tune is called "Old Hundredth" and remains popular today.

== Controversies surrounding music today ==
[[Image:Harrison-Rucker-Barefoot-Recital.jpg|left|200px]]
Music perhaps has always been controversial, but the controversies surrounding music today rage with particular vehemence. The question of what is, and what is not, music is relatively tame. Different composers have always experimented with different music conventions, and always will. (And perhaps they must.) Many such experiments fail, in that the works produced draw only small audiences, and ultimately no one will play them, because no one will pay to listen to them or to have them played for other people. However, whether or not the 'success' of a musical venture can be ascertained based on the size of the audience it draws is somewhat tenuous, as music subject to much critical acclaim can often be shunned by the wider public in favor of more heavily promoted music.

Rather, the most raging controversy concerns certain genres of popular music that have provoked adverse political comment precisely because of the emotions they incite and the themes they sound, both in lyrics and in notes. Some parents of adolescent and pre-adolescent children object to music that explicitly (mainly through its lyrics) exhorts its listeners to sexual sin. Members of various political interest groups object to music that they believe provokes its listeners to show ''disrespect'' for members of those groups.

Some listeners and music critics defend music as "amoral," that is, morally neutral. They maintain that music exists only for people to enjoy, not to make a political point. Any morality found in the music, they argue, is a result of what the listener imparts onto the music. For some, indeed, music is an escape. To them, one who tries to infer a serious purpose in a given piece of music ought to abandon the attempt and simply enjoy it for what it is. This attitude recalls [[Mark Twain|Mark Twain's]] famous introduction to [[The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn]]:<blockquote>PERSONS attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot. BY ORDER OF THE AUTHOR, Per G.G., Chief of Ordnance.</blockquote>

The reaction of so many interested parties to various types of popular music today would seem to militate against that stance. Indeed, history is replete with examples of various pieces of music from earlier eras inciting their listeners to violence; [[Maurice Ravel|Maurice Ravel's]] signature work ''Bolero'', for example, was known to incite riots<ref>[http://www.kalvos.org/bazzr086.html Essay 86: Bolero v. Gliere, Round 1] by David Gunn, at Kalvos & Damian's New Music Bazaar</ref>, as was [[Igor Stravinsky|Igor Stravinsky's]] work ''The Rite of Spring'' (though this may have been due to the fact that atonal music was not accepted as good music, or even music at all during that time period).<ref>[http://www.nottinghamphilharmonic.co.uk/notes/SRS.html The Rite of Spring] by the Nottingham Philharmonic Orchestra</ref>

Riots have also broken out at many rock-and-roll concerts, and often the responding law-enforcement authorities have been at a loss to determine the ultimate causes of those riots. The ''proximate'' cause typically is a one-on-one fight in which other concert attendees joined in—but what put the original combatants into a fighting mood, or causes others to join a fight that was, strictly speaking, not theirs, is far more difficult to explain. Perhaps too many of the listeners are worshiping the performers as if they were [[pagan]] [[idol]]s—a circumstance that, some say, composers like [[Franz Liszt]] and [[Nicolo Paganini]] had to contend with or even chose to exploit. Perhaps the causes have as much to do with the subculture of which rock-and-roll music is a part, as with the music itself. Then, too, no [[physician]] has ever investigated the chronic, or long-standing, effects of a steady [[aural]] diet of different genres of music—beyond expressing concern that many listeners are listening to their music too loud and damaging their hearing with the sheer physical stress of the loud sounds. The only signs that anyone can study, if they are signs of anything at all, are the statistics concerning psychological stress affecting, and substance abuse by, performers of various types of music. (Riots do not routinely break out at classical performances—at least, not since the ''Rite of Spring'' riot mentioned above. This might simply be due to wild behavior not being normative on the part of those who routinely patronize such music.)

Throughout world history, "new" music (which 200 years later may be considered classical or traditions) has often elicited the claim "dangerous" "sexually perverse" and "against human nature". Both Mozart and Beethoven were regarded as dangerous, and the entire "major chord" system was offensive to early Christian ears. Music from other cultures, seen by some as merely different or ethnic, is often labeled dangerous or simply "noise" by outside cultures.

== See also ==

*[[Classical music]]
*[[Joaquín Rodrigo]]
*[[Famous Art]]

== External link ==

*[http://www.essortment.com/in/Music.History/index.htm History of Musical Styles and Time Periods]
*[http://library.thinkquest.org/15413/history/music-history.htm Music history]

== References ==
{{reflist|2}}

[[Category:Art]]
[[Category:Culture]]
[[Category:Musical terms]]
[[Category:Featured articles]]

Pokémon

2009-06-24T16:49:51Z

SatanWorshiper:

{{stub}} 
 
[[image:Pokemon.jpg|thumb|The Pokemon Logo.]]
'''Pokemon''' is a highly successful Japanese franchise that was introduced in the 1990s. Owned by [[Nintendo]], it has risen to become the 2nd most successful video game franchise, behind Nintendo's own Mario. It spread to several other countries in a short time.

Pokemon began it's fame with the release of the dual part video game series Pokemon: Red and Pokemon: Blue for the original [[Game Boy]] system in 1995. There have since been various Pokemon releases across all Nintendo platforms.

The video game was the basis for the popular children's television show, Pokemon, and helped to spawn a large amount of merchandise, various movies (both theatrical and straight-to-DVD) and a successful trading card game.

There has been some controversy involving pokemon over the years. Some in our conservative community have suggested that pokemon may be linked to demons as they must be called upon to perform tasks similar to demons mentioned in the Bible. Sarah Palin has a known connection to mudkips, an Alaskan water-based pokemon, and some in the liberal axis of evil have suggested she may be evoking these mudkips in order to sabotage President Barack Obama's reign of communist terror. This has been proven completely false however, because Karl Rove said so.

[[Category: Games]]
[[Category: Nintendo Franchises]]