I took a music class in university in which the entire focus of the class is that music is NOT universal.
This was a while back so details I remember are sparse.. but he had tons of examples from around the world where what we might consider "happy" or "sad" was entirely different in many cultures.
Granted, it's probably still more true than not to say "for the most part music is universal", I don't think it holds as a simple factual statement.
I think this study refers more to the ways music is used in societies throughout our species -- e.g., songs for grieving, praying, marriage, love, etc. -- moreso than the specifics of the structure of the music in and of itself. The statement "music is universal" does not mean "all music shares the same mapping between tones and emotions," but instead simply that the use of music has similar functions throughout the globe.
Well, seems to me that music is universal the way language is universal. The idea and basic patterns are pretty much the same, but details vary quite a bit.
This was a while back so details I remember are sparse.. but he had tons of examples from around the world where what we might consider "happy" or "sad" was entirely different in many cultures.
Granted, it's probably still more true than not to say "for the most part music is universal", I don't think it holds as a simple factual statement.