ABSTRACT
In a technical sense, music is organized sound and can be analyzed by concentrating on its elements alone, such as melody, rhythm, phonic structure, form, and so forth. This chapter briefly discusses some of the perspectives that may be brought to bear on a given musical type or style. Insiders are assumed to react to their own culture's music in ways that draw on a lifetime of unconsciously absorbed cultural knowledge and attitudes. Along with other cultural elements, such as language, religion, dress, diet, and so on, music shapes how people think about themselves and their role within a society. Music plays a vital role in expressions of ethnic identity. The association of music with healing and spirituality goes beyond the "use" and "function" of music in ritual because it ascribes to music the power to affect beneficial change in human health, both physical and mental.
