Music has a unique power that transcends cultural boundaries, languages, and generations. It possesses the remarkable ability to stir emotions, evoke memories, and influence behavior. From the ancient beats established by drums to the melodic symphonies within modern orchestras, music has proved to be a critical element of human existence. Within our daily moments, music forms a critical part of our lives, consoling us in times of sorrow and amplifying our joy in times of happiness. Whether the lullabies that soothe us into relaxation, the energetic rhythms that form a huge chunk in the workout playlist, or some calm melodies, music forms a critical part of our lives. Apart from being an element of communication, music acts as a mode of communication, self-expression and a media that fosters a connection, diving into the complexities of human emotions. The essay below explores reduction in stress levels, enhancing social interaction, and improvement of the learning process as positive considerations of how music can impact people.
Music reduces the stress levels of people to create a safer mental space. Listening to music provides a chance for which individuals can escape from the pressures of daily life. Classical music compositions like Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Air on the G String” have for a long time been known for their calming effects and are often used in meditation and relaxation, especially among people undergoing mental stress. The ambient music genres, like nature, sounds, create a serene atmosphere, allowing a mental alleviation from stress. In justifying this concept, research reveals that guided listening to music during stressful events can quickly reduce stress levels (Adiasto et al. 1). Whether through gentle melodies, rhythmic beats, or harmonious chords, music can quiet the mind and relax the body to bring the body to a state of peace making it a significant tool in the stress management.
Music enhances social connection, strengthening interpersonal relationships. Events like music festivals allow people to come together to bond and share experiences for the love of a particular class or music genre. A perfect example in this context is attending a live performance of a favorite band. Attending such live events creates a lasting memory and even creates friendships, thus a lasting social connection (Gabriel and Paravati). Additionally, music is a critical cultural tool used in uniting the communities through shared songs and other celebrations that bring the different societal members to celebrate rituals. The events allow the log departed members of the society to come and celebrate. Further, for online streaming platforms, music allows individuals to connect with others around the world just through the use of music, making them exchange different music tracks and even defend different points (Gabriel and Paravati). Whether individuals are involved in societal concerns, singing along with friends on karaoke nights, or participating in virtual parties, music acts as the unifying medium, creating a sense of belonging and solidarity in social connection.
Music enhances memory and the learning process, allowing for increased understanding of concepts. According to musical research, music classes like classical compositions can easily enhance cognitive abilities that can improve memory retention, a phenomenon referred to as the “Mozart effect” (Lehmann and Seufert 1). The phenomenon suggests that listening to complex music can easily stimulate the neural pathways used in memory and encoding and retrieval of information. Additionally, music is used in school to be a mnemonic device to help young children in memorization of information such as multiplication figures of helping in memorization of historical information. In the context of playing musical instruments, involving in such actions needs integration of motor neurons and skills, allowing for auditory processing and spatial reasoning, which can quickly improve cognitive abilities and general academic performance (Lehmann and Seufert). Ultimately, the incorporation of music in the educational context has evidently improved their concentrations and outcomes, proof of its value to educators and learners.
Music negatively affects people by evoking negative emotional influence, possibly translating to violent activities. The negative emotional influence manifests in specific music genres, making individuals to be sad and angry. Using the songs with melancholic melodies in this case, for example, listening to such signs evokes feelings of sadness and loneliness, especially for individuals who are already emotionally distressed. Similarly, listening to specific groups of heavy metal music, like rock, can easily instill feelings of anger and agitation, translating to increased conflicts and aggression (Sharman and Dingle 1). Additionally, music can easily trigger an individual’s involvement in crime, especially for the music that possesses explicit graphic content and those that has violence and substance use as their central theme. In these types of cases, listening to such music can easily trigger distressing emotions and distressing memories, translating to psychological disruption (Sharman and Dingle). Generally, even though music is associated with several positive attributes on humans, it can also translate to adverse effects such as evoking negative emotional influence, thus propagating violence.
In conclusion, music can positively impact people, thus promoting healthy living. Music can firstly reduce the stress levels of individuals, allowing them to have a sense of inner peace. Further, music also promotes social connection allowing people to come together and share different memories and have a sense of belonging and a reason for existence within the different social circles. Further, music fosters an increased learning process due to the incorporation of music in the student mnemonics, thus fostering an increased understanding. Even though music presents a myriad of positive attributes, one of the adverse effects of music on people is its consideration of evoking negative emotional influence, allowing for harmful activities like violence and conflicts.
Adiasto, Krisna, et al. “Music Listening and Stress Recovery in Healthy Individuals: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis of Experimental Studies.” PLOS ONE, edited by Urs M Nater, vol. 17, no. 6, June 2022, p. e0270031, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0270031. Accessed 24 July 2022.
Gabriel, Shira, and Elaine Paravati. “If Music Be the Food of Love, Play On: Four Ways That Music May Lead to Social Connection.” Behavioral and Brain Sciences, vol. 44, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1017/s0140525x20001430. Accessed 22 Jan. 2022.
Lehmann, Janina A. M., and Tina Seufert. “The Influence of Background Music on Learning in the Light of Different Theoretical Perspectives and the Role of Working Memory Capacity.” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 8, no. 1902, Oct. 2017, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01902.
Sharman, Leah, and Genevieve A. Dingle. “Extreme Metal Music and Anger Processing.” Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, vol. 9, no. 272, May 2015, https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2015.00272.