The Sweet Sound of the Indefinable Term

“Mu-sic \?myü-zik\ n.: 1.The arrangement of sounds made by instruments or voices in a way that is pleasant or exciting.”
   -Longman’s Dictionary of American English

If I make a steady beat on a desk, with my hand, in the middle of my Anatomy and Physiology class and classmates decide to build off of my original beat with eighth notes created by the tapping of a pencil, sixteenth notes created by the rapid typing of our nonchalant teacher and the addition of the all-known off beat student that wants to “jam” with the rest of the class—am I not making music? Music is an ambiguous term. There is a vast number of objects that can make music, not just “instruments or voices”. There is most likely one in the world who believes that the sound a garbage truck makes on a Friday morning or the sound a 45 year old man makes while he mows his lawn at 9:30AM is the music that starts their days. The simple sound of coffee falling out of a Keurig Coffee Machine into a Starbucks coffee mug your friend got you for Christmas three years ago can easily be considered music. Whoever created, edited, and proceeded to publish the Longman Dictionary of American English’s definition of “Music” (Copyright 2004) shows that they possess no outside knowledge of social activities.
When I hear the word music, I think of sounds that are not made solely by “instruments or voices in a way that is pleasant or exciting.” In my opinion, “country” music and “Rock and Roll” are not pleasant or exciting; however, they are still considered music. Music does not have to be “pleasant or exciting” to still be under the category of music instead of the category, cacophony.  In 1968, Jimi Hendrix performed the ‘All- American’ “Star Spangled Banner” in the city of Woodstock. In many eyes, the performance was controversial; the performance contained many symbolic elements corresponding to the Vietnam War protests which few people under as the conclusion of the song, as opposed to others who were convinced that it was the “worst performance known to man”. This goes to show the invalidity of the Longman’s definition when stated that music has to be “pleasant and exciting.”
Real music can’t really be explained into an actual “definition” but I’ll try to explain it as simple as possible. Real music expresses feelings. For example, if someone were to lose their significant other in a tragic accident, only to be left alone in a three story home with a two-year-old child crying for their mother or father, and they cry or pray to the higher power that they praise—that is considered music. Real music is rarely heard on the radio or by people who claim they sing real music. Real cannot be artificial, and it also is an ambiguous term. When asked for my definition of real music I can only say that real music comes from the days of unexplainable joy and happiness, or the unexplainable nights of sadness and pain.
If I could quote the definition of real and the definition of music from a reliable source, now is the time where I would place it; unfortunately, those definitions are left to figure out for oneself. Music can be analyzed, but once it’s over analyzed, it no longer can hold the title “music”, it becomes a piece of work. Music should be left alone, only to be heard and related to. My music was put into this essay; I hope you enjoyed my song.