Three evidence explicating the visual dimensions of music

Abstract

Music is an aural art because it uses organized sound as the medium for the several roles that it plays in society including but not limited to validation of social institutions, reinforcing culture, as culture, for catharsis, socialisation, education, therapeutic and communication, among others. Through the ages, the perception of music as an exclusive aural art has been perpetuated in literature that it appears invisible. However, it is not only at the sonic level that it functions. Data from this study came from observation of musical performances and audience behaviour in several contexts and study of the definitions of music in extant literature. When observed closely, one finds that it has a visual element as attested to by response to aesthetic appreciation of musical performances, linguistic expressions, and preferential response of market forces for audio-visual recordings than audio recordings. These examples question the long held perception that music is entirely a sonic art whereas it is not so. It is therefore imperative to re-examine and redefine music as an art that is not just aural but with an audio-visual component.

Keywords: Aural, Audio-visual Art, Music, Sonic Art, Visual Art