One item
on their list that I found surprising is: “Much like expert
technical skills, mastery in arts and humanities is closely correlated to a
greater understanding of language components (Trei, Lisa. "Musical
training helps language processing, studies show." Stanford News. Accessed
February 24, 2015).”
“Musical Communication”, an article by Dorothy Miell, Raymond MacDonald,
and David J. Hargreaves made the following observation; “Music
is a powerful means of communication. It provides a means by which people can
share emotions, intentions, and meanings even though their spoken languages may
be mutually incomprehensible.” (https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198529361.001.0001/acprof-9780198529361#:~:text=More-,Music%20is%20a%20powerful%20means%20of%20communication.,languages%20may%20be%20mutually%20incomprehensible.
)
I
think we have all seen how music is able to rouse our spirit to heights that we
would probably not imagine possible.
Have you ever been to a high school football game? There you are sitting in the stands and the
home team scores a touchdown! What
usually happens? The school band begins
to play triumphant music and the crowd goes wild!
You see the Macy’s parade on various holidays and there are the bands
playing. The people are inspired to
cheerful heights of well being and peaceful moments. The same happens at other such parades. Over and over the music moves the mortal soul
to inspire feelings of happiness.
If you don’t think can affect you and even your enjoyment of events, try
watching a Star Wars movie, or Star Trek, or even a murder mystery WITHOUT
the music. It changes your perception of
what is happening in the movie!
There
is also martial music (or military music) which is a specific genre of music
intended for use in military settings performed by professional soldiers called
field musicians. Varying with the
location and time in history, such music has been produced by drums, trumpets,
bagpipes, and other instruments. Some
individuals have become famous for their participation in martial music. John Philip Sousa was an American entertainer
and composer. He is best remembered for
his marches, his band, and his patriotism.
Known as the “American March King,” he wrote 136 marches, including The
Stars and Stripes Forever, the national march of the United States.
Music
has been used for many reasons over the centuries and by many peoples. You may have your favorite type. Often just to listen to music, while you
relax your inner being, is a favorite pastime of many. In his play “The Mourning Bride,” William
Congreve, an English author of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth
centuries expressed a proverb showing how music has the power to enchant even
the roughest of people. You may remember
hearing it at some point: “Music has charms to soothe a savage breast.” Perhaps you have heard it stated “Music has
charms to soothe a savage beast” but that quote is wrong, although it
has become very popular in its own right.
What can we learn about how music affects us? “Research
suggests music can influence us a lot. It can impact illness, depression, spending, productivity and
our perception of the world. Some
research has suggested it can increase aggressive thoughts, or encourage crime.” (https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/08/health/music-brain-behavior-intl/index.html#:~:text=Research%20suggests%20music%20can%20influence,aggressive%20thoughts%2C%20or%20encourage%20crime.
)
After this brief consideration of music,
we can conclude that we should be very selective about the type of music we
allow to enter our minds. Whatever we
choose, it is bound to affect us in some form or fashion. It may do such in a way that we don’t want to
happen. The need then is to select our
music with cautions. Our tenacious efforts
may well be worth it in the long run.
However, our basic problem is that we’re only human!
QUOTE TO CONSIDER
"Words are used to touch the mind.
Music is used to touch the heart."
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