Writing an essay is exciting and challenging, especially if you have an interesting topic. The topic for the music essay should be unique and catchy, grabbing readers’ attention from the first line. Sometimes, you have to work with the topic the teacher gives you. However, if you can choose a topic yourself, your central theme should be non-standard and engaging.
Students may get confused when choosing a music essay topic. There are so many aspects of music to describe, so it may be complicated to choose a relevant topic. That’s why you should keep reading this text, as we get some good topic examples and tips about selecting an interesting theme for your assignment.
What Is a Music Essay?
Before getting started, it’s essential to understand what is the assignment you are going to write. This is a type of writing where your task is to describe a specific aspect of music. In your essay, you can share a personal opinion and add examples to support your opinion. Depending on the topic, music essay could have different forms:
- An analytical essay is aimed at discussing music composition in different aspects. You can describe each element (harmony, structure, melody, rhythm, and instrumentation). An analytical essay aims to understand a specific composition’s artistic and technical elements.
- Comparative essays are based on juxtaposing two or more compositions, genres, styles, artists, etc. The author must highlight similarities and describe differences, pointing out how the music concept changed over time.
- An opinion essay is made to let the author share personal points of view and share thoughts about different aspects of music. An opinion essay is based on research and anecdotal evidence that an author could use to articulate a position.
Regardless of the essay type, the writing should always be based on research to ensure you provide only proper information and use evidence-based arguments to support your opinion.
How to Select a Topic for a Music Essay?
If your professor tells you to develop the topic, you should understand how to do it effectively. The topic selection takes several steps to complete, and once you do everything right, your topic will be outstanding.
- Think of what is interesting for you. Define what aspects of music are interesting for you. Whether it’s a specific genre, an artist, a style of music, or something else, you should identify it to develop a topic.
- Brainstorm yourself to get as many ideas as possible. Focus on your favorite music aspects and list down all ideas that come to mind. Even if some topics don’t sound good enough, write them down anyway. After that, look at your list fresh and remove everything that sounds weird or weak.
- Narrow down the list of topics. Evaluate your potential topics based on their depth, relevance, and uniqueness. For example, if the topic looks too general, think about narrowing it so that it will focus on a specific point.
- Check media for inspiration. Watch thematic shows, read music magazines, and watch the latest industry news to inspire yourself. Maybe some article or news will give you an idea for a topic.
- Consult with others who are familiar with this topic—receiving information from those who know the area better than you is a good option. You may not understand some nuances, so people will help you clear the gaps.
- Gather and evaluate the information. Once you decide what to write about, check the data you collected on the topic. Consider using the most valuable facts and statements to cover the topic best.
When writing a music essay, you show your topic knowledge and passion for the music topic. That’s why choosing the topic that interests you is essential, so you won’t lose passion when covering it.
Concepts of Music Essay Topics
The music theme is wide, with thousands of topics to cover. However, most of the online topic examples are already covered several times. So, you can use general questions and develop the topic based on this question.
For example, you want to answer your essay’s “Why do I love Music?” question. Since the question is too general, it’s essential to narrow it down to a favorite genre, singer, or something that makes you satisfied. For example, you can tell that music boosts your motivation during work, so you increase productivity and remain focused constantly. When you rest, the music helps you relieve all your bad thoughts and relax your mind. Ask your friends and colleagues why they love music – this will give you valuable data for your essay.
Another example of a general topic is “The History of Music.” From the 18th century to nowadays, this type of art has faced many changes. We know past legends like Beethoven, Vivaldi, and Armstrong and modern personalities like Eminem, Boris Breja, and Drake. Born in different generations, they made music a state of the art that inspires millions of people. You can approach the topic from this angle, providing facts and describing core events affecting music development.
You can use a non-standard approach and describe a topic closely related to music—for example, the problem of using music in advertising. There are many controversial opinions, and people keep discussing this point. On the one hand, using artists’ music makes them more famous as people search for specific songs if they like them. On the other hand, people think that song usage depreciates their work, removing them from the top league. It’s a vast topic that should be analyzed and discussed, so taking it for your music essay is a great option.
The final topic concept example we provide is about the impact of music on global culture. For example, how do musicians from Latin America represent their culture, or how does rock music affect different generations? Many uncovered topics could be represented in the essay; all you need is to find information and compose an essay. Conduct detailed research to present rare facts and support your opinion that way.
Writing Music Essay With a Clear Structure
As with any writing of this genre, a music essay should have a structure with core elements: introduction, thesis statement, body part, and conclusion.
- Introduction. The opening part should be brief and catchy. It could be started with some quote or reference to show the reader your topic knowledge. Add a doubtful question to the end of the introduction or ask a question to give an answer in the main paragraphs.
- Thesis statement. This is one of the most essential parts of the essay because you show how you see the topic. Creating a thesis statement directly related to your main argument is a must.
- The body part, which is the biggest in the essay, consists of three paragraphs and contains core information about the topic. In the body part, present core arguments and facts that support your statements. In a default essay structure, there are three body paragraphs.
- The conclusion summarizes everything you said in the previous paragraphs. For example, if you write a comparative essay, finalize the comparison and say which song, artist, or style is better. Still, there should not be any new information in the conclusion.
Besides writing an essay with the right structure, staying within the word count is essential. To ensure you won’t surpass the fixed amount, recheck the requirements.
Edit and Proofread the Music Essay
Carefully check the essay after finishing writing. You must ensure there are no mistakes in the text and the text is 100% unique. Plagiarism always negatively affects the writing, so checking it and ensuring there are no matches with other materials is essential.
Could an Essay Topic Be Related to Any Music Type?
This is one of the most common questions among students. When it comes to write my essay, they want to ensure that the professor permits the style they want to write about. In most cases, students can write about almost any type of topic. They just need to ensure they have enough information about it to answer the main question of their writing piece.
Sometimes individuals don’t focus on one type of music. For example, they tell how classical music influences modern industry, how modern artists inspire themselves with classic songs, etc.
Final Thoughts
Music essays are far beyond the regular assignments. It’s a great option for individuals to demonstrate their creativity and non-standard approach, revealing topics from different angles and sharing their points of view. Moreover, the music topic is connected to other topics (history, culture, religion, sports, etc.), and the music essay can become solid writing affecting different aspects of life.
However, to succeed with your writing, you must develop an interesting topic that will simultaneously encourage you and your readers. We showed you some good tips and hacks that allow you to formulate the topic. Moreover, you can use available topic concepts and develop a narrow theme.