What Is Heavy Metal

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For thousands of years music has been a major highlight of every culture around the world. Music has been used in diverse ways, ranging from worship to gods, holiday celebrations, to even national identity as in the case of national anthems. Music is without a doubt, man’s best friend. It is present in every scenario of human life. It can be heard in the house, in the car, at work, at the store, at church, even to the extent that it is used in the bathroom. Its emotional influence in the lives of people has been enormous, resulting in desires for glory, love, peace, unity and many other aspects of life.
Over the years a wide variety of categories have emerged in the musical world ranging from symphonies to heavy metal. Excuse me, Heavy metal? Can every style of music that has been categorized be regarded as true music? One of the most controversial issues regarding music is whether or not Heavy Metal can be considered true music. From my perspective and that of many citizens, heavy metal is nothing but an insulting, loud, and pointless arrangement of instruments and vocals. It should not be considered music for it fails to meet the criterion that is to be met when deciding whether something should fall into this category.
First, let us turn to the definition of the word “Music”. What is Music? According to the definition provided by the Oxford English Dictionary “ “(126). This leads us to two other questions; what is harmony? And what do we mean by expression of

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emotions? In order for a set of instruments and vocals to be considered music they must fulfill these two main characteristics.
Let us turn to the meaning of harmony. Harmony as seen in our lives refers to the combination of elements resulting in beauty and pleasure to our senses. Perhaps the best example in musical harmony could be the performances of musicians such as Ludwig van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Frederic Chopin among many others who constitute to classical music. Their musical compositions employ soft gentle sounds from a variety of instruments. Each instrument is given the opportunity to be appreciated and delightful to everyone’s ears. Coordination of every instrument is vital in their performances; a slight error in a member can cause a loss of harmony. Thus harmony involves pleasure, beauty, and coordination.
In contrast to classical music, let us now analyze Heavy Metal in respect to harmony.

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