Is Music Universal?

Just purely scientifically-speaking, is music universal?

I mean, is it reducible to some other science--like math? If some advanced extraterrestrial came to earth, would he recognize our music? And would he like it too?

I'm watching Close Encounters of the Third Kind on the Sci-Fi channel as I post this. And it is integral to that story. But that movie doesn't score well in the accuracy department anyways. (I think they are the first to depict advanced ET's as greys.) So that isn't the best example.

But back to my original question: music--yes or no?

 

In the sense that waves are created from sound it is universal, however there is probably only a portion of animals biologically equipped to respond to music as sound and even less that probably respond to it as an organized collection of sounds, which may be a generic definition for "music."

So we would have to make some assumptions as to what the aliens are like, such as possessing bodies and brains that respond to sound waves from music in some way.

 

I doubt that one species' music would be recognizable by another species. Or should I say 'music'? It's possible that another intelligent species would use a completely different medium than sound to create what it would consider music...light waves maybe. Who knows? Evolution takes some strange paths.

 

I believe it's all universal to some degree. You take some of our music to a third-world country, and although some may not like it, or the idea of playing it for them, you can bet someone will like it.

 

Studies of the effects of music on animals.


7 Scientific Studies About How Animals React to Music
BY Meredith Danko
November 4, 2015

7 Scientific Studies About How Animals React to Music

 

The Mozart Effect

Mozart effect - Wikipedia

 

Yes we...I mean they like "our" music. It's not like that, we, I mean, they can really relate to people.

 

If aliens parked their spaceship in my back garden, I would invite them to watch Gotterdammerung with me and ask them if they had any part in it.

 

I'm sure if any being had ears it could hear music but whether or not they interpret it as music I'm not sure. Personally, what some people call music I call rubbish and what I listen to is also rubbish when I call it music.

I think aliens would sing rather than have musical instruments. In all the years I've watched TV and movies I've never seen an alien come out with a guitar strapped over the shoulder. But they often utter harmonic noises.

 

hahahahha. LOL!

 

I’d hazard a guess that it is universal.

Music is based on simple ratios between the wavelengths of sound giving recognisable intervals, scales and harmony. The octave interval of halving the wavelength we easily discern as the start of Over the Rainbow would be just as obvious to an alien with hearing that detects pitch. Therefore, it seems entirely possible that other intelligent lifeforms would hit upon a roughly similar arrangement of notes and find it pleasing.

 

Tomatos grow better on heavy metal

 

Consider whales, they communicate through water. Music in its purest form is sound in a specific pattern. Unless we have special equipment we can not hear it. This also brings up the thought, can whales hear our music if we play it in a boat?

 

What grows best on opera. Hopefully it will be something that I like.

 

This is a far better example of film scoring.
Although Alex North scored the film, Kubrick rejected much of the score and added the classical sections himself.

 

Stinging-nettle

 

Great. Now all I need to do is get Jane to bake them into a quiche.
She baked a nettle and mushroom quiche for a party some years ago. Everyone loved it and she never revealed her secret recipe. LOL.

 

I really need to rewatch 2001: a space odyssey. Its been over a decade i think, and it was one of my favorites!

 

Modern music theory emphasizes the silences between the notes which, unlike the notes themselves, can represent any emotion. This is also my specialty with the poetry I write, which can treat the passage of time as merely a variable, with no intrinsic meaning or value. For music to have any meaning it must embrace the silence and transcend metaphysics.