Essay on Music: Ideas, Features, and Structure

Even when you’re completely exhausted by everything that happens in your life, music is what always can save you. Everyone has favorite music, and a music essay with this guide at writers-house.com blog is a great opportunity to share your feelings and thoughts about music with others.

When you can write an essay on your own topic, it’s awesome. However, such a task may be also quite challenging, not only for students but also for professors and teachers. The latter also may have hard times trying to assign the best essay topic. Here are some ideas that may help you make the right choice:

  • The influence of music on your everyday life. Music is everywhere: on radio and TV, on the internet, etc. Think of the connection between music and human mental health. Find a narrow topic and don’t forget about evidence.
  • What is the role of music in your life? Are you a musician or a listener? Do you sing? Why do you love listening to music?
  • The history of music genres and styles. Think of the development of genres in the context of social life.
  • Consider different music styles. There are dozens of genres and subgenres, and every one of them has a particular effect on listeners. For example, you may compare two completely different genres and their influence on you.
  • Consider the most important musical terms: consonance, tone, dissonance, harmony, rhythm, melody, tempo, etc. These terms can explain a lot about music, in general.

Essay on Music: the Structure

An essay about music, as well as any other writing assignment, should be based on proper research, reliable sources, and a good outline that will help you create the right structure.

First, you should figure out what type of an essay you have to write: descriptive, argumentative, persuasive, or discursive. If your task is to write a for-and-against essay, you should provide both points of view, supporting them with evidence. However, there is always the same basic structure.

1. Introduction
In this section, you should briefly explain your topic, starting from a quote or a definition that will introduce your readers to the topic, and leading them to your thesis statement. Your introduction should be concise and clear.

2. Body
This is the main part of your essay. Here you should make your claims and provide the evidence that will support your thesis statement. Every paragraph of the body should contain a particular idea or point with the corresponding pieces of evidence. Every paragraph of the body section should also have its inner structure:

  • a topic sentence that introduces the argument of this paragraph;
  • an introduction to the piece of evidence that supports a particular claim;
  • facts and quotes (make sure to properly cite all the sources);
  • an explanation of your evidence;
  • an explanation of how this evidence is related to your topic;
  • transitions between paragraphs that help your readers seamlessly move from one section to another.

3. Conclusion
Your conclusion should be persuasive. It should also summarise your key points in the most important facts. Here’s a standard structure for a conclusion:

  • a quick summary of your thesis in a couple of sentences;
  • a few sentences with your key points;
  • a summary of your findings.

Features of an Essay on Music

You don’t have to be a musician to write about music. You just have to listen carefully, evaluating and understanding the music so that you can provide your own interpretation.

An essay on music should include an interesting primary argument, appropriate style, and the right structure. If you’re trying to write a great essay on music, use interesting metaphors and pay your attention to the details.

Plain language vs. technical language
What is your audience? Are they professional musicians or not? If you don’t know much about music or if your audience lacks musical knowledge, try not to use technical terms and describe your point as simply as possible. However, professional language may help you describe some important details for professionals.

Metaphorical language
Metaphors are a great tool that will help you better describe the nature of certain musical passages. Good metaphors enable you to reveal the meaning of a musical piece without using sophisticated technical terms. We recommend that you choose analogies carefully because a wrong metaphor can ruin your argument.

Immanent critique
Your professor may ask you to only focus on certain fragments of a musical piece, or on a certain musical piece, without mentioning other works created by the same author. In this case, you should evaluate hidden tensions, slippages, and deviations of the piece.

10 Topics for Your Essay on Music

We hope that these ideas will help you choose a perfect topic for your essay.

  1. Music in movies. Evaluate the impact of a soundtrack on the atmosphere of a certain movie.
  2. The influence of music on the human mind: why do marketers use music in advertising?
  3. Music and its influence on our lifestyle: how does music impact the way we dress and behave?
  4. The impact of sound on our brain in the context of science and mental health.
  5. How modern technologies affect the music industry.
  6. The history of music and its six main periods of development.
  7. The importance of music for TV shows and its impact on the audience.
  8. Music and philosophy: what music can tell about the artist’s personality.
  9. Should music be free? Consider the legal and ethical aspects of this issue.
  10. Does a musician need musical education?

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