What is music?

Music is not something I would have ever thought to be even remotely related to philosophy, and yet when I googled the Philosophy of Music, I was very surprised to find the different issues that can be addressed on this subject.  

First of all, what is music?  As we have recently learned in class, epistemology is more difficult than one initially thinks.  Is it just "organized sound?"  No, it must be more than that.  Can one say it is sounds with certain frequencies, tonal harmony?  But, one can also say that a rhythm circle of drums make music as well, and that has only the most limited form of pitch, and no tonal harmony to speak of.  

Can we then say that it is something which has rhythm?  But once again, this is organized sound, and who is to say that some construction worker who happens to be drilling in a rhythmic manner is not making music under that definition?  John Cage, a recent American composer might call even that music, though granted, he did write a piece called 4'33'' which consisted simply of a certain number of instruments simply sitting in place for 4 minutes and 33 seconds, allowing the audience to appreciate the music of silence and the sounds the audience makes as it fidgets. Some might argue however that this is less a musical work than a theatrical piece.  

However, going back to the example of the construction worker, might one be said to make music unconsciously?  Doesn't the city itself has a certain rhythm to it that may be enjoyable?  One may be reminiscent of the group "STOMP" who puts on shows banging trashcans, bouncing basketballs and sweeping the floor.  Of course what they do is intentional for their performance, but might there be something behind the show which they are hinting at?  Yes, some might say that the city is just noisy, but it may have its own strange music to it.  

On that note, can animals be said to make music?  Can one say that the songs of birds can be counted as music?  Some birds sing in their own distinct rhythms, have a melody, if not being tonally harmonic.  However, many would say that jazz, some contemporary music and perhaps even some metal rock may be said to not be tonal either, but even to be harsh to people's ears.  Yet none, or at least few, would contest the fact that these genres are music.  

Perhaps music is something which deliberate, something which can be written out, or discussed, or at least passed on from one person to another (in the case of some more primitive forms of music).  However, one might bring up the example of jazz once more in this case.  Much of jazz consists of the players making up the music as they go along, yet it is still music.  And one might also argue that although pieces may be written out - the best example being classical music, where every little part is on paper - when performed, the piece may not always be perfect.  With wrong notes, can this be said to be deliberate music?  

Can we perhaps say that music is defined by the listener?  But that would make things complicated, since every bit of music would be subjective and there would be little consensus as to what is music or not.  

It is difficult to make a distinct line as to where music begins and ends.

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/music/

http://www.philosophyofmusic.org/Davies%20On%20Defining%20Music.pdf

http://www.philosophyofmusic.org/