Among many other things, music can be pleasant, pretty, enthralling, threatening, suggestive, heartbreaking or heartening; in essence, it runs the gamut of human experience.  Some people have said that understand music is to understand life, and when you think about the fact that music can so often transcend cultures and languages, you can see why this phrase might be right.  For many of us, music is something that is only a part of the background of our lives, something that can be easily ignored.  

Ignoring music, however, can mean that you are missing out on an enormous pleasure of the world.  There are any different thoughts as to how music can benefit us.  Some people believe that babies that listen to music in the womb turn out to be more intelligent, while some teachers swear by the fact that their students get higher test scores if classical music is played.  More than that, though, an appreciation of music can turn your gaze outward and allow you to look at a great many different things when it comes to life in general.

One of the first ways that many people start studying music is through looking at its history.  This covers a wide range, one that certainly reaches back before the existence of historical records.  Instruments like drums and flutes were found among the artifacts of pre-literate cultures, letting us know that our ancestors had their own tunes and melodies.  When people think of music history, they often think about composers like Mozart and Beethoven, but remember that the Sex Pistols, the Pogues and the Clash were all part of it too.

Even the styles of various different kinds of music, once you have an understanding of them, can broaden your mind.  For instance, Beethoven was writing during the Romantic period, where people were beginning to get away from traditional styles and to put real expressiveness into their music, something that makes a great deal of sense if you listen to the rousing Ninth Symphony.  There is a great deal to be learned about both the music and the people who wrote it.

Remember that you don't need to play music or to read it to appreciate it.  Musicians need their audiences, but it is also fair to say that the audiences need their musicians!  The next time you are thinking that you are enjoying a tune, think about why you enjoy it, and what you are getting from it.