From the prehistoric times when there was no language to communicate, from that time the creatures to this date use a variety of sounds and noises to communicate. But gradually mankind with his intellect and for recreation added harmony, rhythm, words, synchrony, and tune and created a world of melody to the ears. It’s what we call MUSIC. It started out as a form of entertainment for the soul and mind and advancement in this field has gone to such extents that now often for a number of psychiatric disorders there are sessions of music therapy prescribed by the medical field. It has become an intrinsic and important part of our life that has changed thousands of personalities, giving hope to millions and is a memory palace and a restful place to escape from the hustle and bustle of daily life.
Music associated with dance and a diversity of musical instruments has propagated through history to become a rich cultural heritage of various civilizations and empires. With an enormous population of various linguistic groups, India boasts of some of the finest pieces of this culture and some of the renowned musicians dating back to Tansen, one of the Navaratnas at Emperor Akbar’s court. Besides considering it to be one of the most carefree and happy pastimes of all, music has always been the “go-to guy” for the pained mind and relief from difficult harassing moments. It has provided a roof above the head and food in the stomach to people worldwide. And along with it, from the mesmerizing blissful chirping of a bird to the rage of a thunderstorm, each and every delicate tune has been produced with the help of strings, percussion, beats, and a list of other instruments that have created this pleasure world. In this article let’s take an adventure through the wonderland and effects if music.
Let’s start by looking at the top 5 types of music currently in the world :
1. Electronic Dance Music 🎼
Generally referred to as EDM, this form of music is produced by DJs who add dozens of tones to a piece to create unique music. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, after the invention of raving and pirate radios and an increase in interest in club culture EDM achieved a lot of popularity in Europe. Some of the famous bands are Skrillex, Swedish House Mafia, Avicii, and Deadmau5.
According to the International Music Summer (IMS) Consumer Report 2012, EDM is the fastest growing mainstream genre in the United States.
2. Jazz 🎷🎷🎷
It is said that Jazz is “One of America’s original art forms” and boasts a unique combination of creativity, coactions, and interactivity. Jazz originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, the United States, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots were blues and ragtime. Jazz is very rhythmic. It has a forward momentum called “swing,” and uses “bent” or “blue” notes.
In Jazz, improvisation plays a very important part. Jazz can express many different emotions, from pain, anger to sheer joy. Some very famous Jazz artists are Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, etc.
3. Rock Music 🎸🎸🎸
Originated as “Rock & Roll” in the United States, Rock music has been rocking the world since the 1950s. It originally started with string instruments but now with the invention of modern instruments rock music is much more loud and enjoyable. Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix becoming prominent in the blues, rock, and psychedelic rock scenes. Rock music has been guitar-oriented for most of its life. Rock music is often rebellious for lyrics. Rock music has often addressed casual sex, drugs, drinking, sticking it to the man, etc. Rock and roll can tell stories with its lyrics.
4. Rhythm and Blues 🥁🥁🥁
Originated in the 1940s, this African-American music is a combination of hip hop, funk, dance, pop, and soul focusing on themes like relationships, sex, and freedom.
Blues songs are lyrical rather than narrative; blues singers are expressing feelings rather than telling stories. The emotion expressed is generally one of sadness or melancholy, often due to problems in love. Some of the most famous artists are Steve Ray Vaughan, Jimmi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Bb King, etc.
5. Country Music 🪕🎻🪕🎻
Country music originated in America with its roots in Western music and American folk. It used very simple instruments like guitar, mouth organs, and violin. The country music emphasizes emotions and the current happening events such as suicide, love, alcohol consumption and unfortunately, the songs tend to inflict the same behaviors to some adolescents. However, the music is excellent for enjoyment when it is all about love.
We generally would love to listen to this musics especially with our loved ones. If you want to have a very romantic and calm evening with your loved ones country music will help you there 😉. Some of the famous artists of country music are Garth Brooks, Miranda Lambert, Luke Bryan, Johnny Cash, etc.
There are many other genres of music like Dubstep, Techno, Electro, Indie Rock, Pop music, etc
Effect of Music On Health
The great American Musician Billy Joel once said
“I think music in itself is healing, It’s an explosive expression of humanity ”.
Everyone will agree to the fact no matter what culture we are from or from what part of the world we belong to, we all love music. It’s like and universal bond that connects everyone together. Numerous research by famous scientists around the world has shown it can benefit our mental health.
Researchers have also started searching for the effects of music beyond our mental health.
Music therapy is an evidence-based clinical use of musical interventions to improve clients’ quality of life.
Music is used as a therapy to treat many types of health problems for centuries. Music affects many areas of the brain, including the regions involved in emotion, cognition, sensation, and movement. Music therapy can benefit many individuals especially those who cannot express themselves verbally. Music has a diverse nature i.e it can be applied in the treatment of concerns both physical and psychological.
Bob Marley once sang: “One good thing about music, when it hits you feel no pain.”
Guess what!! it’s really true according to some researchers
By analyzing 72 randomized controlled trials involving more than 7,000 patients who received surgery, researchers found those who were played music after their procedure reported feeling less pain and anxiety than those who did not listen to music, and they were also less likely to need pain medication.
Listening to calm soothing music gives us relief from pain and anxiety. One reason may be because listening to music triggers the release of opioids in the brain, the body’s natural pain relievers.
Effect of Music on our Mood
Ever wondered why some songs continue to haunt us for days and affect us so deeply?
Music, sound, or any kind of nice may have a significant effect on our emotions mood because of brain dopamine regulation. Music can boost happiness and reduce anxiety. Imagine a world where you can’t turn on your favourite workout playlist while going for a run? Or maybe the pump-up song to boost your confidence right before any big event of your life.
Life would not be possible.
Some music tends to make a deep impact on everyone’s life. Sad music help us feel relatable during hard times in life while joyous music makes us happy.
Music makes us feel good thus giving us positive vibes and positive vibes are extremely necessary for health and creative thinking. This is why maybe music is said to have potential health benefits.
Ever heard of Impressionism in Music?
Impressionism in music was a movement among various composers in Western classical music (mainly during the late 19th and early 20th centuries) whose music focuses on mood and atmosphere.
The tone, colour, atmosphere and the fluidity were the most important characteristics to define impressionist music
For example: Do you know why there is loud and fast tempo music in most shopping malls during peak hours? This is to encourage customers to speed through the store to do their shopping quickly.
While sometimes you may get to hear slow tempo songs during off-peak times. This is to encourage customers to wander around look through every product slowly take more time in shopping.
So we can see how music is so related to our everyday life!!!
Ever heard of the song GLOOMY SUNDAY?
Gloomy Sunday is also known as the Hungarian suicide song. It was composed by Rezso Seress and Laszlo Javor.
Why suddenly a song nicknamed as the suicide song?
Well, the song is connected to many suicides in Hungary.
People killed themselves after listening to the song (either from a recording or performed by a band), or who were said to have been found dead with references to “Gloomy Sunday”. The composer himself committed suicide.
It is said that the song is not sad, there is a sort of terrible compelling despair about it. The song makes a person sadder when he is in a deeply bad mood.
Some Bad Effects of Music
Listening to music for very long hours can be extremely harmful. Sound vibrations acting upon and through the nervous system give shocks in rhythmical sequence to the muscles, which cause them to contract and set arms and hands, legs, and feet in motion. Some types of music can have deleterious effects on the mind and the body. Listening to music With sexually explicit lyrics such as some rap music, violent music or even heavy metal music may give rise to emotionally confused, depressed, or maybe be even suicidal state of mind in children. You may have noticed toddlers crying when a piece of gloomy music plays continuously.
Listening to such music at such a tender age can give rise to depression in a child. Music indeed can have a lot of negative impacts on children. We know children tend to remember everything they hear so being exposed to inappropriate language or music that promotes violence or racial slurs can influence them to adopt this kind of attitude. Another harmful area not so directly associated with music but still has its negative impact on the youth is that often they pluck up the courage to leave out their academic performances behind to pursue careers in singing and various music styles. But not all of them are as successful as the stars we see. This gradually leads to depression, drug addiction, drinking ad abuse of other substances just to escape reality. This is a bitter truth associated with the line of music.
So here we end on a high note that the essence of music has made life a lot simpler and entertaining in the modern world casting aside the few negative impacts. As a word of encouragement to all out there during this hard time of lockdown, we would suggest each and every one of you to get involved in such cultural activities to cast aside boredom and loneliness. Take up your musical instrument and just spend a few minutes trying to get a rhythm out of it and out of your voice. YOU won’t know when the time will just fly away.
Always remember the effort matters, not the result.Image Source- Google
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