Music. We all have heard it. We all have at least acknowledged it. And luckily, there are many that have taken it as a profession. We are fortunate to have (had) such musicians as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, The Beatles, Tupac Shakur, Johnny Cash, B.B. King, Bob Marley, and all the other greats that have inspired people and fellow musicians today. If they were never to exist, who knows what our musical world would sound like? Our daily schedules may even change because of the way we are influenced by it. Our very moods and feelings fractionally depend on the power of music.

One of the most amazing characteristics that music has is that we sometimes don’t even realize when its being exposed upon us. Within almost every electronic device, there is some form of this great art being utilized. From the beeping of an alarm clock to the ringtone of a cell phone, music ubiquitously intrudes on our lives. Even when watching television, music is used as a form of propaganda to influence us, the loyal customers, to buy the sponsored companies’ products (i.e. McDonald’s “I’m lovin’ it”). When commercials aren’t being shown, the shows (i.e. Seinfeld’s interludes of bass riffs) and movies (i.e. the dramatic score of the Star Wars trilogy) we all love have a great amount of orchestrations and songs being used to make us feel the ambiance of the various scenes of love, tragedy, comic relief, and suspense.

Another lovely use of music is its application in school. In elementary school, we enjoyed the extra “break” from work, aside from recess, to bang on xylophones, beat wooden sticks together, and sing traditional folks songs (I speak of these from my wonderful experience at Sonoran Sky Elementary). After that short transition in and out of middle school, high school gave us the opportunity to take music seriously. From Choir to Guitar to Piano to Dance to Orchestra to AP Music Theory (my subject), students bring forth their right-brained abilities and are given the chance to find out if they might consider music as a career.

Lastly, what I consider the most important thing that we can use music for, music brings people together. It gives people the harmony and rhythm that greatly assists in keeping the world a more peaceful place. As the French composer Edgard Varése famously stated, “Music is organized sound.” The subconscious thought of “organization” may be why music impacts us so much, and why we should use it to our advantage to give us the expression and tranquility that we need. Going back to what was stated before, we are fortunate to have the innovative artists that we have today and that we still listen to from when they ruled our worlds. As we listen to them throughout our days, on our iPods or Zunes or others of the sort, we receive the messages these musicians send to the world. And when these messages aren’t towards society or certain individuals, they make us feel “that feeling” – that feeling that you are alone in your own world, able to do anything at all and able to live your life the way you want.

I’d like to finish this article by celebrating everyone and everything that somehow contributed to releasing music into our universe: musicians, musicians’ families, musicians’ fans, musicians’ inspirations, producers, managers, record companies, musical instruments, schools, friends, iTunes, iPods, LimeWire, torrents, technology, feelings, expressions, catchphrases, relationships, sex, drugs, dreams, hallucinations, God, Buddha, Allah, all the remaining deities and supernaturals, and all the other less significant influences on music that I haven’t remembered to add on to this list.

-Iron Man