A large part of everyday life revolves around music. Not only is a popular art form in its own right, it is used to some extent in every other art form that exists, from the soundtracks of films to jingles on the radio. It is also important as one of the oldest artistic creations of man.


There have been many different definitions of music over the years. Ancient Indians and Greek Philosophers used to define it as tones ordered vertically as harmonies and horizontally melodies. 20th Century composer John Cage gave a more simple answer, pointing out that any sound can be music: There is no noise, only sound. This shows how blurred the definition is, as it is often the case that the distinction between music and noise is dependent upon the listener.


With sound and noise all around us, it is no wonder that primitive man found music to be such an obvious way to express himself or to entertain. It is possible that early humans heard birds singing and animals communicating and put two and two together.


This has developed considerably, of course, to the modern day. Typically, people today do not debate whether a noise or a sound is music, but instead debate whether specific bands fall into this category. It is unlikely, for example, that a fan of heavy metal would consider Britney Spears to be music.


It's been a long road to this point, however. Music has had it's place in every part of history and a specific style can often denote a specific period of time. It is often easy to spot the sound of a 14th century guitar for example. While musical life was strong in Medieval England, it was of course the renaissance that had a huge effect. One devices such as the printing press had been invented, music was much easier to write down and mass produce on a grand scale.


With the internet of today, this is having the same effect, bringing music to more people all over the world, both with the written sheet music and the downloading of tracks (both legally and, unfortunately, illegally) bringing music to people who would not otherwise have heard it. We hear a lot about internet piracy and the knock on effect isn't just angry record companies but a whole new way of listening to music as the industry embraces the internet as a positive way to share.


It all brings a new meaning to the idea of music being a part of everyday life.

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