The preface tells some myths and legends about music and nature, which reflect the reality in a unique way. It can enlighten our minds, inspire us to understand the close relationship between music and provide some clues between them. However, if you really want to explore how music originated from nature, you can't rely on legends, but you must seriously examine the history of music occurrence and development.
The word "music" is a commonly used word, and it is also a word that people, regardless of gender, age and age, are very familiar with, and need no further explanation. However, if we really want to understand the relationship between music and nature, we need to start from the word music and understand its meaning. Looking at the word "music", we will see that there is an explanation under the item:
"Music is a kind of art. Through the artistic image formed by organized music, people's thoughts and feelings are expressed and real life is reflected. The basic elements of music are melody and rhythm, and other important means of expression are harmony, polyphony and orchestral music. Music is an art of time, and only by playing and singing can it be felt by the audience and produce artistic effects? 6? 8? 6? 8 "
Needless to explain, from this passage, we can not only understand the meaning of the word music, but also understand the composition of music and its basic elements, what it is to express, and how its artistic appeal or artistic effect is produced. As you will see from the following narrative, all this is related to" nature ".
(1) Music originates from nature
As we all know, everything has its basic unit, elements are composed of atoms, compounds are composed of molecules, and organisms are composed of cells. Music, like it, also has its own "atoms" or "cells", which is music.
Music refers to a relatively harmonious and pleasant sound, which originally existed in nature. When people walk into the forest, they will hear birds singing and birds singing together; When people walk to the water's edge, they will hear the water gurgling and the waves splashing. People walk into the mountain cave and knock on the white stalactite column, and they will hear the tinkling sound echoing in the cave. Su Dongpo recorded this kind of music in nature in his "Shi Zhongshan Ji". There are many "xià" (crevices) under the Shi Zhongshan. When the water raises a shock wave, it will arouse the music like a bell and drum.
between the two mountains, near the harbor, there is a big stone flowing in the middle, which can seat a hundred people, and it is full of tricks in the air. When it is mixed with feng shui, it will also give out the bell and drum sound of "Ku (m ? n) Kantang". Su Shi compares these natural music sounds with the non-shooting clock cast by Zhou Jingwang and the singing mirror of Wei Xianzi, which shows his joy.
Coincidentally, there is a spring in Tunisia, which is called "Music Spring". The place where the music spring flows out is very similar to the landform of Shi Zhongshan. There is also a hollow rock. When the water flows through it, it will be divided into thousands of streams, which collide and sing with each other, giving out ever-changing sound.
The music in nature is far more than that. The singing of birds in spring, frogs in summer and cicadas in autumn are all musical. Inspired by these music, our ancestors will naturally spread their voices endowed by nature to sing.
Unlike modern music synthesizers, which manually control the sound, these natural sounds, including people's voices, follow the natural laws (physical laws) that are independent of the human voice. Its pitch is determined by the pitch, and its timbre depends on the composition of harmonics. The frequency of harmonics and the pitch form a certain proportional relationship. The intensity of pitch is the strongest, while the intensity of harmonic decreases with the increase of the ratio of its frequency to the fundamental frequency. The frequency of fundamental frequency and the composition of harmonic are not determined by human beings, but are controlled by the physics of vibration and wave, that is, the voice of human beings. The singer only controls the vocal method and cannot change the physical laws. This variety of music is transmitted to people's ears, and through the natural response of human hearing organs, people "listen" to all kinds of pleasant sounds. This kind of natural music, as Su Dongpo said in his "Qian Chibi Fu", is "the sound of the ear" and "inexhaustible, which is the creator's endless treasure." (1) However, can human beings only "passively" enjoy
the natural music generously given by this natural creation forever? No matter what the reason, in short, our ancestors did not make such a choice, but gave full play to people's unique creativity. While making all kinds of labor tools, they also made their own "playing music" tools-musical instruments.
However, is the "musical sound" produced by human beings through musical instruments completely cut off from nature?
of course not. There are many musical instruments followed by touching legends closely related to natural music. In the previous Greek mythology, the flute was triggered by the natural ringing of reeds, while in China, there is a story that the flute was triggered by the natural ringing of bamboo pipes. Legend has it that there is a place called Ghost Country in Jiushishan, Miao Ling. All the sons and daughters of the Shui people here have a good voice and often sing loudly. The old emperor of Ghost Country was named Ben. Because he was born with a hoarse voice, he was very jealous of other people's beautiful singing voices. He ordered that all singers should be beheaded. There is a stockade called Nanzhuzhai in Yantou, Jiushishan. In Nanzhuzhai, there is a young craftsman named Zhulang and a beautiful country girl named Yamei. Zhulang and Yamei love singing very much. They sing wherever they go, regardless of the emperor's ban. One day, Zhulang and Yamei were sitting on the slope singing, and suddenly they heard a pleasant noise. I followed the sound to
look for it, and found that it was the sound made by the wind blowing diabolo. Zhulang thought of a fresh way. He took a section of bamboo, drilled it empty, and dug seven holes in it. Zhulang plays with his mouth, and the sound is very beautiful. He can also play different tunes. At Yamei's urging, Zhulang named this instrument flute.
Although Zhulang was later killed by the vicious emperor with poisoned wine, Yamei was also killed in the Golden Temple to resist the emperor's proposal. The musical instrument "Bamboo flute" inspired by natural music has remained until now.
There is no need to verify the authenticity of legends, but legends always have their "truth" core. When we hear the unique rich and touching ringing of the bells of our ancestors' great creations, and compare Su Dongpo's "Shi Zhongshan Ji", who can draw an insurmountable gap between the creation of this ingenious man and the miracle produced by "nature"? When listening to the folk artists playing all kinds of birdsong in "Birds at the Phoenix", who can argue that this music is not from the singing of birds in nature? Ji Kang once wrote in Qin Fu:
Remember the towering trees,
Back against the towering hills;
contains the alcohol of heaven and earth,
sucks the light of the sun and the moon
contains the alcohol of heaven and earth, and
music is closely connected with nature.
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Why do you want to listen to music?
1. Music is closely related to the evolution of human beings:
Recently, some scientists have suggested that music, like upright and straight walking and language function, is a gradually formed ability of human beings in the process of evolution, which appeared in the early history of human beings and helped people survive in harsh environments.
first of all, music is everywhere. From the three-step dance in the Amazon River to the hot dance in Amsterdam, no matter where the world is or what kind of culture, music is regarded as an important and indispensable part without exception.
In fact, the "Divjebabeflute" carved on bones found by scientists in Slovenia is the oldest musical instrument. This musical instrument can be traced back to 4, years ago. At that time, people all over Europe and North America were still covered with snow and ice.
If this oldest musical instrument has existed for 4, years, vocal music may have existed for twice or more. Professor Harry estimates that music may have existed when the race was just formed.
Another fact that supports the biological basis of music is that some people can't tell the tone after hearing loss in the brain, but when he sees the lyrics of the corresponding song, he can hear it nine times out of ten.
Of course, there are not a few people who are skeptical about this statement. Steven Pinker wrote a book entitled "How the Brain Works" in 1997, saying that compared with language, eyesight, social skills and physical strength, without music, human life style will not change fundamentally. Pinker believes that music is something invented by people. Because it can make people's body and mind get great pleasure, it has been continuously continued and developed. In other words, people invented music because they like it.
Sandro Toja of the University of Toronto, USA, commented on Pinker's point of view, saying that his statement is very clever, but it is not correct. Toja Bo once traveled all over the world, and she found that wherever she was, her mother sang to her baby in almost the same way: high pitch, slow melody and emotional tone. Although each race's culture has its own lullaby, they are so similar that even if you don't know the language at all, you won't miss it.
This gave her an inspiration: Music is not an invention of human beings. If we all use music to communicate with babies, this is an instinctive way of communication between mothers and babies.
Therefore, if a musical gene appears in the early stage of human beings, it is easier for those who have these musical genes to have healthy offspring, and each generation will enjoy the benefits brought by music as a gift. Music makes every individual more attractive to the opposite sex. Even Darwin himself is very satisfied with this explanation of music, but many scholars disagree with this view, because from many situations in the biological world, peacocks attract the opposite sex with their tail feathers, moose attract the opposite sex with their antlers, and larks attract the opposite sex with their songs, but all these phenomena are manifested in male animals. For human beings, music is possessed by both sexes.
Maybe we will never know how music developed in the long river of history, but in any case, music is our extremely valuable wealth.
2. Music is also related to human health
In recent years, many scientists have confirmed through scientific research that music has a positive effect on people's physical and mental health and has many wonderful functions.
An American medical scientist once counted the ages of 35 famous American music directors who died. Their average life expectancy was 73.4 years, which was 5 years higher than that of American men. According to surveys in Germany, Italy and other countries, people who often listen to music usually live 5 to 1 years longer than those who don't listen to music.
Music therapy has been popular in many countries. Through clinical experiments, the medical community has determined that music is very effective in relaxing body and mind, refreshing spirit and inducing sleep. Physiologically, music can cause changes in breathing, blood pressure, heart beating and blood flow. Some types of music can also stimulate the body to release a natural opiate called endorphin, which can relax the body and mind and relieve pain.
In p>1972, the Polish government set up the first "Music Therapy Institute" on the advice of several pathologists and musicians, which was quite effective. Soon, state-owned hospitals such as Britain, America and Japan also adopted the method of music therapy. For example, listening to music three times a day after meals can treat neurogastritis; Listening to lyric music to patients with hypertension can lower blood pressure; Listening to soft and relaxed music to frightened people can make patients quiet and even return to normal.
why does the human body react in a specific music environment? Medical researchers believe that this is closely related to the rhythm of human cells themselves. When the vibration of human cells is in harmony with the external rhythm, people feel comfortable.
Westerners believe that listening to western music, especially classical music, has the best effect. Some experts pointed out that Schubert's music can help the insomniacs fall asleep, Bach's music can relieve indigestion, and Mozart's music can relieve the pain of rheumatoid arthritis. Others say that Mozart's music can eliminate fatigue and revive the spirit.
The medical community in China has also conducted extensive research on the health-preserving effect of music. According to the theory of Chinese medicine, the characteristics of China's five tones (Gong, Shang, Jiao, Zheng and Yu) coincide with the five elements (gold, wood, water, fire and earth). For example, the palace sound is majestic and broad, with the characteristics of "earth", which can enter the "spleen" in the five internal organs; Shang yin is pure and solemn, with the characteristics of "gold" and can enter the "lungs"; The horn sound belongs to "wood" and can enter "liver"; The sound sign belongs to "fire" and can enter "heart"; Feather sound belongs to "water" and can enter "kidney" Five tones and five internal organs, two seemingly different concepts, interact with each other through the "five elements".
The so-called "appropriate music environment" in the West is selected in the East according to the individual's physique. For example, the "fire" type people should choose "water" music to reduce their impetuous mood, and the "water" type people should listen to "fire" music to enhance their kidney function, while the "wood" type people are indecisive and listen to "gold" music to motivate themselves.
However, not all music is beneficial to people's physical and mental health. A psychologist abroad once analyzed 28 members of three different symphony orchestras. The results show that most band members who mainly play classical music are in a stable and happy mood; More than 7% of the members who play modern music or mainly play modern music suffer from nervousness, more than 6% are impatient, more than 22% are depressed, and some people often suffer from insomnia, headache, earache and diarrhea. Others have made a survey of some music lovers and found that in families who often enjoy classical music, people get along well with each other; People who often enjoy romantic music are cheerful and active; In a family keen on noisy modernist music, members often quarrel with each other. It is said that listening to this music for a long time will stimulate the nervous system strongly and even destroy the normal function of the heart and vascular system.
3. Music is also closely related to children
Listening to music can enhance memory
A study by the Chinese University of Hong Kong shows that music training can not only improve Tao Zhi's temperament, but also enhance his memory of language.
Among the 6 female students in the Chinese University who were tested, the female students who received music training as children can remember 17% more written materials than the female students who did not receive music training.
Chen Ruiyan, a professor of psychology at the Chinese University who is in charge of this research, said that previous studies on brain intelligence found that musicians' left brain is larger than the average person, and their left brain may be more developed than the average person, and the left brain is also mainly responsible for language memory. Therefore, receiving formal music training is likely to make people's left brain develop better; Even the language forgetting ability controlled by the left brain has been improved together.
This study is also good news for some amnesia patients whose language ability is affected. Because learning music does not require language skills, if patients have the opportunity to learn and enjoy music, their memory may be gradually improved.
developing children's musical memory
cultivating children's musical memory is an important part of intellectual development, and it is the basis for creating musical activities.
how to develop children?