We Listen To Music By Anthony Stoorr
Music is one of the most powerful forces on this earth. Not only does it greatly impact our lives in ways we may not always be aware of, it can instantly change ones emotion or mood and can also heal ones spirit, along with making memory more real than ever. Music is a very positive experience, it brings joy to many in times of sadness. It can be a way to get away from everything, a way to “escape”. Humans are made and wired to respond to music, to be impacted by it. We listen to music with our muscles, with our body, and it’s as if it takes over our minds. Not one person hasn’t experienced this, it is evident in all of us (tapping feet, humming, singing along, body movement with the rhythm of the song). This can even occur without our knowledge
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or knowing, which is just one example of many on the power of music. “According to a study done by Nusbaum and Silvia, over 90% of humans have received chills down their spine while listening to music.” (Bryant 2014). This statistic itself demonstrates music does, in fact, have power over us. How powerful that effect is on the individual depends on that individual’s personality however. Music is special in that it engages all areas of the brain, which no other form of art or force is capable of doing, which is why, for example, it’s so easy to get a certain song or tune stuck in your head for hours. “Musical experience strengthens many of the same aspects of brain functions that are impaired in individuals with language and learning difficulties, such as the neural timing precision which allows differentiation speech syllables.” (Bryant 2014). Since music engages all areas of the brain, it makes sense that it’s capable of helping those with, for example, speech disabilities (which include language and learning difficulties). This is capable of working because music and language are both complex types of communication, and work very similarly. While we listen to music, we have higher levels of brain wave activity, and it even synchronizes more with the music. This shows that we were made to respond to music, and that music has always been a part of us as a species. We are a musical species. Now, going back to the fact that how powerful the effect of music is on an individual depends on the individuals personality. Part of this is also how you engage with your music. According to research by Ferguson and Sheldon in 2013, “participants who listened to upbeat classical compositions by Aaron Copland, while actively trying to feel happier, felt their moods lift more than those who passively listened to the music. This suggests that engaging with music, rather than allowing it to wash over us, gives the experience extra emotional power.” If you allow yourself to engage with the music and fully focus on the music itself and nothing else, it can be twice as powerful than if you were listening to music while cooking, studying, playing video games, etc.
Thousands of years ago, music has brought people together.
People would come together to sing and dance, in every culture, whether it would be around a fire, in church, or in peoples own homes. According to Music and the Mind written by Anthony Storr, “This primal role is to some extent is lost today, when we have a special class of composers and performers, and the rest of us are often reduced to passive listening. One has to go to a concert, or a church or a musical festival, to recapture the collective excitement and bonding of music. In such a situation, there seems to be an actual binding of nervous systems, the unification of an audience by a veritable ‘neurogamy’”. This is very intriguing. It’s as if when people get together to not only listen to music, but to fully engage in the music, everyone becomes “one body”, synchronized together. We see the overwhelming power music can have on an audience, at concerts where the music and beat is at an overly excessive volume. Members of the audience, as one, may be taken over, engulfed or entrained by the music. Music is powerful enough to create energy. The energy someone feels at a concert, if they be fully engaged, can be an energy unlike any other. It’s like the music takes over the audience, making everyone jump up and down, chanting and singing along to the song lyrics of the artist
performing.
or knowing, which is just one example of many on the power of music. “According to a study done by Nusbaum and Silvia, over 90% of humans have received chills down their spine while listening to music.” (Bryant 2014). This statistic itself demonstrates music does, in fact, have power over us. How powerful that effect is on the individual depends on that individual’s personality however. Music is special in that it engages all areas of the brain, which no other form of art or force is capable of doing, which is why, for example, it’s so easy to get a certain song or tune stuck in your head for hours. “Musical experience strengthens many of the same aspects of brain functions that are impaired in individuals with language and learning difficulties, such as the neural timing precision which allows differentiation speech syllables.” (Bryant 2014). Since music engages all areas of the brain, it makes sense that it’s capable of helping those with, for example, speech disabilities (which include language and learning difficulties). This is capable of working because music and language are both complex types of communication, and work very similarly. While we listen to music, we have higher levels of brain wave activity, and it even synchronizes more with the music. This shows that we were made to respond to music, and that music has always been a part of us as a species. We are a musical species. Now, going back to the fact that how powerful the effect of music is on an individual depends on the individuals personality. Part of this is also how you engage with your music. According to research by Ferguson and Sheldon in 2013, “participants who listened to upbeat classical compositions by Aaron Copland, while actively trying to feel happier, felt their moods lift more than those who passively listened to the music. This suggests that engaging with music, rather than allowing it to wash over us, gives the experience extra emotional power.” If you allow yourself to engage with the music and fully focus on the music itself and nothing else, it can be twice as powerful than if you were listening to music while cooking, studying, playing video games, etc.
Thousands of years ago, music has brought people together.
People would come together to sing and dance, in every culture, whether it would be around a fire, in church, or in peoples own homes. According to Music and the Mind written by Anthony Storr, “This primal role is to some extent is lost today, when we have a special class of composers and performers, and the rest of us are often reduced to passive listening. One has to go to a concert, or a church or a musical festival, to recapture the collective excitement and bonding of music. In such a situation, there seems to be an actual binding of nervous systems, the unification of an audience by a veritable ‘neurogamy’”. This is very intriguing. It’s as if when people get together to not only listen to music, but to fully engage in the music, everyone becomes “one body”, synchronized together. We see the overwhelming power music can have on an audience, at concerts where the music and beat is at an overly excessive volume. Members of the audience, as one, may be taken over, engulfed or entrained by the music. Music is powerful enough to create energy. The energy someone feels at a concert, if they be fully engaged, can be an energy unlike any other. It’s like the music takes over the audience, making everyone jump up and down, chanting and singing along to the song lyrics of the artist
performing.