An idea or way of life that we live by, that's culture, and culture affects us all no matter where we live or what we do. Think about the last time you said something smooth or cool to your girlfriend or guy friend you probably heard it in a love song or rap song. We often take for granted the fact that music is all around us no matter what kind you listen to. You listen to music in your car, in the mall while you are shopping, in the shower, on television and at parties.

Music is a key component in any kind of culture it is a way to express the ideas and beliefs of that culture. The ideas and attitudes people have toward their society can easily be seen in their music. Expression in music comes in every emotion you can think of sad, happy, mellow, anger, peaceful and many others. Music, especially in today's society, brings about certain ways of life or attitudes about life.

I often wonder what the next generation has to offer to the wonderful world of music. In the fifties it was do wop and swing music, america had its first taste of rock and roll вќ in this era of happy times. People's lives were safe and happy and this do wop bee bop music reflected the way people's attitudes were about life. In the sixties rock and roll вќ made its collision with mainstream american culture and people like the beetles and elvis presley became the forefathers for a huge cultural gateway. The era of peace love and happiness was beginning and so once again the music reflected this way of thinking, acting and feeling.

Throughout history the unspoken but highly evocative language of music has exerted powerful influences on individuals and societies alike. Felix mendelssohn once remarked that music is more specific about what it expresses than words written about those expressions could ever be. That music has the power to express, convey and illicit powerful emotions is without question, however the issue of music's moral and ethical power, and how. As defined in merriam webster's dictionary, culture is the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group. These customary beliefs could also be described as a set of morals or values commonly practiced by a group.

Social forms are understood as being the institutions in which interaction and socialization between people take place, such as at school, church, or work. The material traits within a culture would include clothing, food, and art to name a few. The gregorian chants of the middle ages were composed and performed specifically for catholic church services, as the church was the strongest institution of that time. For this reason, the majority of music in the middle ages was of a religious origin. Early music is based mainly on the music of the medieval, renaissance and baroque eras. This is a handy date, but it misses the various stylistic changes taking place around that time, i.e. The emergence of the gallant and pre classical idioms in close proximity to the final flowering of the baroque proper.

As with everything else, baroque music ended gradually and sporadically, if we are to say that it ended all. Perhaps the significant factor defining these eras as early music вќ is that they do not have a continuous performance tradition. In other words, this music ceased to be performed after its time had passed and needed to be revived in our own era.