LECTURE 7: Is Music Strictly a Human Pheonmeon--Do Birds do It?-3

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Do Birds Make Music?

 

We have already dealt with the issue of what is music. You may recall that I concluded by saying that sound becomes music when the brain decides that it is music. Now let's say it's a beautiful spring day and you are walking through a heavily treed park hand-in-hand with your girlfriend or boyfriend. Suddenly, interrupting the gentle rush of the breeze, not far away a male warbler lets out a song so hauntingly pleasant and musical, you comment, "he's playing our song dear."

Links to an external site.What's wrong with that comment, aside from being trite and cornball? Most of all, birds do not sing; humans sing. That yellow warbler (see photo) may have been calling for a mate or trying to warn you away from its territory. The intent was not musical. Music is something that is man made, and interpreted as such by humans. Human music follows rules and guidelines for melody, harmony and rhythm; and it is intended for consumption by human listeners. Birds do not sing to please humans, nor conceptualize the concept of 'music' and what it means from a human perspective.             

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Now that you have my rather brief take on the issue, have a look at the articles below, in which the authors refer to bird calls or "songs" as songs. However, do not take that as definitive proof that birds make music. Read these articles with a critical perspective. Note whether or not in your thinking these authors have conclusively proved that birds are musical and sing songs. Remember that birds "sing" to communicate with other birds--they do not intend to please humans with a good "song." You will have to decide for yourself whether or not birds are musical in the human sense of the term or do humans interpret their vocalizations as "music."

Link Links to an external site.  1. Bird Sounds
Link Links to an external site.  2. Bird Songs in Musical Notation
Link Links to an external site.  3. Dolphin and Whale "Songs" (are they songs?)