Music, in its most simplistic form, is rhythm-or movement of sound in any sequence or interpretation. Music is love, hope, inspiration, pain, pleasure, anger, courage, macabre, and madness. There is no form or outline that defines what music is and what it is not. Just as art is expression, music-a form of art-is expression of feelings in different forms and sound patterns that all revolve around one central idea-rhythm.

While melody and harmony are key contributors to music, it is rhythm that connects all forms and strings the idea of the definition of music together. The argument develops when trying to define what music is, and who labels it. Music is indefinable-that is what makes it such a unique entity. A screech and a torrent beating of a bass drum can be music just as simply as a symphony from a world famous composer can be classified as music. Finding a true definition of music, is finding the rhythm in things unimaginable. There is a cadence to our stride-left, beat, right, beat, left, beat, right, ect… There is rhythm in our habitual sequences of everyday life. Finding the rhythm of things is the beginning to uncovering the mystery of what music truly is.

After a basic form of rhythm is understood, you can define the technicalities of music. Music of Africa is greatly driven by rhythm, while music from other countries is driven more by melody than a bass line. Saying that one thing is music and one thing is not defiles the true expressive nature of music. If I smacked a bottle against the floor making a thud sound over and over who is to tell me that this is not my break through of pure musical genius. If Koreans screeching to some tribal bass drum is unpleasant to my ears, it doesn't make it any less of a candidate for the label of music.

Rhythm is more than just a beat or a bass line. Rhythm is the mechanism that drives sound into presentable sequences. It gives color and texture to sounds. Rhythm takes something that incorporates only one of the five senses and turns it into a multi-sensory perception.

Personal taste does affect the definition of music. In reality, there is no true definition of music. Music must be defined to each individual person to their own way of perceiving the subject. I could try to convince you all day long that my theory of rhythm defining music is the right answer-yet it is my own interpretation and I can not argue that it is the only plausible answer. The characteristic of music must be defined within our hearts. Anyone can bombard you with their likes and dislikes telling you that their personal favorites are the only true music, but nothing makes this person more right than the next.

I believe that music is inside a person's soul, and the way that music influences them provides a definition that is unique to them and just as justified as the next person's theory. Trying to label music is like trying to put a bird in a cage and making it conform to a set of beliefs. Music is best when is has no limitations or categories to be fitted too. The definition of music is simple: it shall always remain a mystery.