Is Music a Universal Language?

In our English class, we read and discussed about a piece called “Because My Father Always Said He Was the Only Indian Who Saw Jimi Hendrix Play ‘The Star Spangled-Banner’ at Woodstock” by Sherman Alexie. It talked about Alexie’s father and how he had a strong connection to a guitar arrangement of the American national anthem. Throughout the story, it can easily be seen that the strong power of music as emotional medicine is one of the main themes that Alexie tries to convey. Not only his father but even Alexie himself began to connect with Jimi Hendrix’s music as he and his father drove through a snowstorm. “In that near blizzard with [his] father at the wheel, with the nervous silence caused by the dangerous roads and Jimi’s guitar, there seemed to be more to all that music” (Alexie 28). Making a connection with music also means having a deeper connection with his father, which again emphasizes the power of music in Alexie’s writing.

While reading, I was reminded of the common saying that “music is a universal language.” I have never thought much of this statement other than it saying how music can be enjoyed by all different kinds of people. I can always easily imagine people from all kinds of unique backgrounds attending the same concerts or visiting the same art museums; however, I started to really analyze this sentence, as I began having thoughts that maybe this saying can have some misleading effects.

One of the definitions of “language,” when I searched it up on Merriam-Webster, was “a systematic means of communicating ideas or feelings by the use of conventionalized signs, sounds, gestures, or marks having understood meanings.” It is often said that communication can get rid of many misunderstandings; therefore language, when I think of it, is a way of conveying ideas to others so that they will have the same viewpoint, or at least know what one’s viewpoint is. Is this the same with music though?

When thinking of music, while obviously the melodies and rhythms can seem to convey certain emotions to the listeners, the sensation that each individual feels while listening will never be exactly the same. Of course, the same thing can be said about language, as people listening to the same speech or reading the same book will have different opinions or interpretations of the text. However in the case of music, and also art, it is possible for viewers to connect with the pieces in many diverse ways that can sometimes even be opposites of each other. Moreover, it is hard to say that anyone can feel the same emotions that the composers of each musical piece put in while creating the different melodic lines. I feel, though, that that is not the point of music or art. Do all artists compose because they want all viewers to have the same emotions while looking at or listening to their pieces? I feel that the intention of the “speaker” is the main difference between language and music.

I think of language as a way of making others understand one’s intentions, while music is something that provokes all kinds of emotions in listeners. Of course, spoken words can be interpreted differently, and music can definitely be composed with the thought of conveying the musician’s exact emotions. Just as we learn different languages to be able to communicate with more people around the world, many also study music of different cultures or art history to try to understand the intentions of many artists or musicians. Still, I do think that describing music as a universal language can be misleading by sounding like all individuals are able receive the same messages and feel the same emotions by listening to the same composition. Music or art should not have commonly “understood meanings” like in the definition of language. Just as Alexie’s father described himself as “the only Indian” listening to Jimi Hendrix, I am sure there were many others who had different interpretations of the arranged “Star Spangled Banner” and thought they fully understood the intentions of the guitarist. But can we really say that Jimi’s actual thoughts synchronized with any of them when he played at Woodstock?