Think back to the first time a song gave you goosebumps. Maybe it was a lullaby. A first dance. A favorite track on a long, open drive. Whatever the moment, something in the music stopped you. Moved you. Stayed with you. 

That reaction wasn’t random. Psychologist Howard Gardner—who introduced the theory of Multiple Intelligences—suggests musicality is something we’re born with. It’s wired into us. Still unsure? Consider the rhythms already baked into life: the beat of your footsteps, the rise in your voice during an argument, the lift in pitch when you ask a question. Whether we realize it or not, we’re constantly moving through music. 

So… what exactly is music?  

It seems like an easy question—until you try to answer it. In   "The Music Instinct", archaeologist Stephen  Mithen   offers a working definition: music is a variation of pitch, rhythm, and dynamics, whether voiced, played, or felt in the body. It’s a solid start—but what about music that defies those rules? 

Luigi Russolo’s   The    Art of Noise   is a piece built from industrial sound. The Caretaker’s   Everywhere at the End of Time   mimics the disintegration of memory across six haunting hours. These works   don’t    fit our traditional definitions—but they move us. Which is why.  Mithen   eventually borrows the most honest answer of all:   “I know it when I hear it.” 

And maybe, most of all, we know music by what it does to us. 

We asked Dr. Nita Baxani, Chair of Early Childhood at the Colburn School of Music, what music means. She didn’t   begin with   melody   or meter. She talked about   connection—how music builds relationships. From choirs to jam sessions, stadiums to living rooms, music brings people together. Across generations. Across languages. Across cultures. 

Why is that? One powerful theory is that music predates language. That before we had words, we had rhythm.     Sound. One another. Suddenly, the phrase “music is a language”   takes on new depth. 

There’s evidence to back this up.   Mithen   notes that every known human society makes music—even those with no outside contact. And   it’s   not just us: birds sing, frogs croak,    cows respond to jazz.   An elephant once   calmed to   Clair de Lune. Music speaks in ways that many species seem to understand. 

Dr.   Baxani   has seen this innate musicality firsthand through   BambinO, an opera created for babies. In these performances, music helps infants form early social bonds. The spark in a child’s face when the music begins? That joy   isn’t   just cute—it’s   developmental.   It’s   emotional.   It’s   vital.