Music and Imitation

In the first chapter we have just read of The Nature of Art, Art as Imitation:Plato, Thomas E. Wartenberg discusses how art can never actually be the exact "imitation" or replica of an object or subject in art in Plato's opinion. He states that "Plato does not think that music imitates anything".

I may not know very much about music but in my opinion, Plato's idea was at one point true until listening closely to the music that we hear today. When music was first created, people just heard a sound coming from their mouths or instruments. Once they had mastered that sound, they started to imitate the sounds of animals and nature.

Today, we hear music that show imitations of various sounds, sounds varying from the beating of a heart, to a bird call, to even an imitation of ones emotion (such as someone who is crying out in sorrow).