Music

This is my public speaking text that I presented at the competition on the 24th of February...

Assalamualaikum and a very good morning to my fellow friends, teachers and judges. Today,
on this fine morning, I would like to present to you a public speech about ‘Music’.

Music. We hear it every day. No matter where we are, music will always be played either
on the radio or just by humming a tune. Did you know that music started as early as the
Paleolithic era? So music is about 200 000 years old. Wow! It’s so old. Still people enjoy
listening to this ‘old’ art for nearly 200 millenniums.

Music is an art which uses sound as its main medium. The word ‘music’ originated from a
Greek word ‘mousike’ (musikis), which means art of the Muses (Muses). The Muses are the
Goddesses of Greek who loves art and literature.

The elements needed to produce music are pitch, rhythm and dynamics. The pitch is the
combination of melody and harmony. Rhythm is the beat of the music. Dynamics are the
volume. At first the song starts soft then it gradually starts to get loud. Suddenly there’s an
accent and everything settles down and dies away.

An object needs to be vibrated in order to produce sound. Let’s take a guitar for example. We
pluck the strings in order to vibrate them. The sound waves then enter the hollow wood and
echoes in order to make the sound louder. How about a woodwind and a brass instrument? Ah,
but there’s a catch. These two instruments are the same but they are not alike. Both
instruments need ‘puff power’. But a woodwind instrument uses holes to indicate different
notes whilst the brass family uses valves.

Some standard orchestral instrumental families are the strings family, as in pianos,
guitars, violins and so on. Next, the woodwind family. For example, flutes, recorders, bassoons
and others. Lastly, the brass family. The family consists of trumpets, French horns, tubas and
others. Sometimes, people use imaginary instruments like the air guitar. They are just basically
strumming like a guitar but without a guitar. Still the song is playing in their heads.
 The music genre is generally endless. It ranges from Acapella to Fusion jazz, Gaana to
Muzak also known as the music you here in elevators, Nagauta, a kind of Japanese style of
music, to Rumba, Sabar to Zydeco. Sabar is not the Malay word for relax. It is a drumming style
found in Senegal. Have you heard? There’s another genre coming! Revolution Pop is created by
Usher Raymond. Oh, you know! He’s Justin Bieber’s mentor. The most popular genres that we
hear nowadays are pop, dominated by the late King of Pop, Micheal Jackson. Rock, conquered
by Elvis Presley. Punk, played by bands like Green Day and Paramore. Country written by Taylor
Swift and a few others. But the only thing I can’t deny is that the most popular genre right now
is K-pop or Korean Pop. Boy bands like Super Junior and girl groups such as 2NE1 are examples
of artists who gets involve in K-pop. Boys and girls are going nuts over the artists.

Through music and the lyrics, a massage could be passed through. Moral values could
also be found in them. Some song lyrics contain impolite words which should be avoided as it
could contaminate the thought. Motivating songs could boost and motivate anyone who listens
to it.

Composers are people whose job is to make music. Music could come out as complex as
it sounds or even as easy as just making up a tune by humming. It may sound difficult but if you
have the will to learn and create music, then it won’t be that difficult. An example of a classical
composer that we always hear but seldom know is Ludwig van Beethoven who wrote the song
entitled Für Elise. At the age of 26, Ludwig van Beethoven started to lose his sense of hearing.
He gradually became deaf but that did not stop him from creating more fantastic music. Don’t
know who’s Beethoven? How about we take someone local. Edry Abdul Halim. One of the
members of a boy band with the name KRU. He has created music for many Akademi Fantasia
candidates and many are a hit!

Music is written theoretically and made real practically. It lives in every one of us. Music
is like an international language. Even though we do not understand the lyrics but we
understand the melody. The rhythm. The harmony. Everything starts small. In music, it starts
with a note. Then, a tune. After that, a rhythm and a melody. Finally, a harmonious song that
unites everyone disregarding the race or the background or whatever at all was born. Music
unites the souls of Malaysia and the world. Guess what! We enjoy it!
Thank you and Assalamualaikum.