Life provides numerous ways to make both mentally and physically overwhelm people. An every day worker may experience spilling coffee all over them in the car on the way to their job. Arriving late to work, they are reminded of the substantial tasks they will struggle to complete before the weekend. Each staff meeting, email to read, and piece of paper work to complete adds to the arduous obligations this person already has. The fact that on the way home they have to wait in five o’clock traffic, go grocery shopping, and pickup the dry cleaning certainly does not help their cause. Preparing dinner for their family along with helping their kids with school work continued to increase the person’s commitments, as they still have their own work to complete. After a lengthy and stressful day, they finally do what they have been looking forward to all day: go to bed. While stress creates angst, weariness, and lack of motivation, there are ways to mend it’s burdens. Music is a tool that may be used to cope with what repeatedly takes the life out of people. Both the playing and listening of music allows people shift their focus to sounds that both soothe the brain and motivate it’s functions. Someone ecstatically singing their favorite song on the way to work provides a much brighter start to the day opposed to the rage felt will being burnt with hot coffee. Various styles and genres will affect the brain distinctively, but all offer benefits to one’s mental and physical health. Music therapy is an occupation focused on how to explore different avenues of music listening and playing in order to improve people’s mental health. Not only are people in need of this therapy for stress related reasons, but may also seek a relief for their mental health issues, such as dementia. Musical playing and listening of multiple genres has a profound affect on the mental and physical health of people which shines light on the significance of music.

Listening to music allows the mind to be relived of stress by allowing people to shift their focus, giving people a unique comfort inside and reviving beloved memories from the past. The peak of frustration is created not only by the complication of a task, but by the time, energy, attitude, and persistence needed to complete it. People are faced with these draining burdens everyday in some fashion, and commonly have trouble completing them without feeling stale. Music offers an opportunity for people to turn their focus to organized sounds that rejuvenate their minds. Elizabeth Landau, founder of the experimental blog CNN Light Years, researched a study on how music listening affects mental health. Daniel Levitin, a well known neuroscientist and faculty member at UC Berkley, conducted a study testing how music would affect patients preparing for surgery. Patients were randomly assigned music to listen to, or anti anxiety drugs to take. Levetin and his team of scientists tracked levels of anxiety and stress prior to their procedure. The results of Levitin’s study found that “patients who listened to music had less anxiety and lower cortisol than people who took drugs”. Music can affect not only people’s emotions, but the brain function as well. Barry Goldstein, a grammy winning author, speaker, and producer, has an enlightening understanding of how humans can express emotions through music. In his book, “The Secret Language of the Heart : How to Use Music, Sound, and Vibration as Tools for Healing and Personal Transformation”, Goldstein uses a mother and child as an example for this transferring of emotions in song. In his third chapter, entitled “Engaging Your Brain With Music”, Goldstein describes how a mother singing a lullaby to her newborn baby gives action to the hormone known as oxytocin. The “cuddle hormone” as Goldstein calls it, “can be released by singing”(29). Goldstein then educates readers about music resulted brain functions with brain wave entertainment. He explains that music can “affect your mood by entraining the brain to more relaxed states, where we become more focused and attentive and can increase our cognitive abilities, sleep more soundly, and learn to meditate”(Goldstein). To support his argument for music’s affect on sleep and learning abilities, Goldstein displays human’s hertz levels, which is the level of brain synchronization to musical frequencies. Goldstein constructed hertz levels into four categories from highest to lowest activity: Beta, Alpha, Theta, Delta. The Beta waves include hertz levels of fourteen to forty, are experienced while people are awake at standard alertness. The brain typically experiences the Beta waves while someone is actively engaged in their work. Alpha waves range from eight to fourteen hertz, while people minds are calm and relaxed. Actions associated with Alpha waves include meditation and taking a break from work. The hertz levels are at their lowest activity with the Theta and Delta waves, as levels range from zero to eight hertz. Actions associated with the Theta and Delta waves include daydreaming and dreamless sleep. Goldstein argues that the Beta waves are what people mostly experience during a typical busy day, as “we are moving at a faster pace when our attention is on our outer world (work, family, etc.) and our faster brain frequencies reflect this”(Goldstein). Alpha waves, Goldstein writes, are experienced while listening to calming music. Due to the relaxation of the brain, Goldstein writes that in the Alpha and Theta people can “tap into enhanced creative frames of mind”. Creativity, linked to motivation, is key to those overwhelmed with stress, as a newly found energy can better their future work habits. Music listening offers a calming outlet for people with high stress levels, a method of deep emotional connection, which can be see through the hertz levels of brain frequencies. 

Music playing captures the mind by teaching concentration skills and participation abilities which result in academic improvements that can be translated to other areas of life. Performing a musical instrument requires a great deal of focus in order to produce a refined sound. An instrument such as the violin requires years of crafting technique in order for players to be able to master a wide range of musical capabilities. The abundance of knowledge in technique needed to play the instrument gives the player the task of displaying many of these elements all at the same time. Some of these tasks include having proper curvature of the fingers in the violin hand, a proper bow hold, shifting back and forth between left hand positions and patterns, and reading music to name few. Jascha Heifetz, one of the greatest violinists in history, was once asked by a college violin student how they could learn to play like him. The audience laughed as he responded that if the student would “concentrate, a great deal, it would take you at least three months”(Heifetz). While any musician knows they are far more than three months of focusing away from becoming one of the greatest to ever play their instrument, it is still apparent that concentrating is the first skill needed to begin. By strengthening their ability to complete several actions at once, musicians can translate these concentration skills to other areas in their life. A particular area of life that students can use is in their classrooms. Melissa Locker, writer for Time Magazine, sought to find ways that the concentrations skills developed in music lessons translated to the classroom. She cited a study conducted by Nina Krauss, a researcher and neurobiology professor at North Eastern University School of Communication. In an elementary school class, Krauss attached electrode wires to the heads of musically trained and non music trained students in the classroom. Krauss tracked the student’s brain functions to learn which of the two groups would have the highest attendance records and participation levels. According to Kraus, the brain functions showed that the students who studied music “actively participated in the class, showed larger improvements in how the brain processes speech and reading scores than their less-involved peers”. This active participation in the classroom sets the music educated students apart, as their motivation and focus will carry with them into their future. Music playing also has a positive affect on students academic progress. E. Gleen Schellenberg, a psychology professor at the University of Toronto at Mississauga, sought to find out how music lessons would affect student’s IQ scores. The six years olds he assigned to take voice and piano lessons saw a much higher increase in their IQ than a control group who waited a year to begin lessons. The study found that “each additional month of music lessons was accompanied by an increase in IQ of one-sixth of a point, such that six years of lessons was associated with an increase in IQ of 7.5 points, compared with children who did not have the same amount of musical instruction”(Schellenberg459). Music proves to have a noticeable affect on the participation and academic levels of those who play an instrument. 

Contrasting styles of music affect people’s brain functions differently. If someone who is dealing with the break up of a three years relationship, they may listen to “Skinny Love” by Bon Iver, which includes heart breaking lyrics sung by Justin Vernon that confess the consequences of love, accompanied by the somber strumming of an acoustic guitar. The despair in Justin Vernon’s voice relates to that of the person’s emotion state as a result of the breakup, which allows the listener to connect to the song. On the other hand, if someone finally received a promotion after the five laborious years on the job, they may celebrate by dancing to “Rock and Roll Music” by the Beatles. The upbeat sound of George Harrison’s guitar with John Lennon’s praise of rock and roll music brings the listener out of there seat so they can dance along with the music. Though the influence of music changes from genre to genre, specific elements of musical composition are what affect the feelings people produce from them. Psychology professor at Uppsala University Patrik Juslin and associate professor at Stockholm University Petri Laukka, studied what musical elements express specific emotions to listeners. They divide the emotions most experienced in music listening into five categories: happiness, sadness, anger, fear, and tenderness. The two then includes numerous features of music that will most affect these five emotions. The musical traits include: “tempo, mode, harmony, tonality, pitch, micro-intonation, contour, interval, rhythm, sound level, timbre, timing, articulation, accents on specific notes, tone attacks and decays, and vibrato”(Juslin220). The researchers found that musical characteristics that increased the listener’s happiness include fast tempo, major mode (pattern of notes), consonances, small sound level variability, and quick tone attacks. Interestingly enough, each of these qualities correlate with the sound of the Beatles tune. Sadness, on the other hand, was felt mostly with slow tempos, minor mode, dissonances, moderate sound level variability, and slow tone attacks. Likewise, these elements relate to that of the Bon Iver song. Additionally, the researchers found that anger was felt while hearing music including “fast tempo, small tempo variability, minor mode, atonality, dissonance,…major 7th and augmented 4th intervals,…complex rhythm, sharp contrasts between “long” and “short” notes”(221). Juslin and Laukka then found that fear was felt when people listening to music with “fast tempo, large tempo variability, minor mode, dissonance, rapid changes in sound level, high pitch, ascending pitch, staccato articulation, wide pitch ranges, pauses, and fast vibrato”(221). Finally the researchers found that tenderness was felt by listeners who hear music that included “Slow tempo, major mode, consonance, medium-low sound level, low pitch, fairly narrow pitch range, legato articulation, slow tone attacks, soft contrasts between long and short notes, accents on tonally stable notes, and medium fast vibrato” (201). Discoveries by both psychologists give people a greater perception of the specific musical details that affect their emotions. 

Music’s effectiveness also exists for those with mental and ailments through the use of music therapy. The benefits of music are regularly unappreciated because people generally believe it’s benefits have minor positive outcomes. While not every affect of music is visual for people to see, the benefits of music listening for dementia patients is both alarming and heart warming. The American Music Therapy Association defines music therapy as “the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program”(www.musictherapy.org). The goals listed in this definition vary from person to person, but may include improving cognitive skills, learning, categorizing, behavior, controlling impulse, and increasing alertness and attention span. The website then explains that music therapy is slow greatly helpful to those who have communication issues, writing that “music therapy also provides avenues for communication that can be helpful to those who find it difficult to express themselves in words”. By providing these avenues for communication, music therapy gives those deteriorating from mental illness a path to improve their speaking skills. Music and Memory is a non profit organization that brings provides music of people’s personal interest in order to improve their quality of life. The organization trains nursing and elderly care staff across the nation how to create playlists for specific patients struggling with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, and other physical ailments. As patients struggling with mental ailments such as dementia, their minds are often extracted from the realities of the world and replaced by knew thoughts that on exist in their imagination. Music and Memory seeks to brings these absent minded patients back to the real world by triggering memories with music. The institution writes on their website that by “providing access and education, and by creating a network of MUSIC & MEMORY℠ Certified organizations, we aim to make this form of personalized therapeutic music a standard of care throughout the health care industry” (MusicandMemory.org). An example of the work done by this organization can be seen on their youtube channel, which has over seventy videos posted about the ways in which music can influence the moods and expressiveness of those suffering from mental illnesses. In their video entitled “(original) Man In Nursing Home Reacts To Hearing Music From His Era”, members of the Music and Memory team study a patient named Henry. A ten year dementia patient, Henry was sent to an elders center due to his several censures and memory loss that eventually became too much for his family to handle. Henry’s daughter tells the team that her father used to be the most joyful of men, always singing to them and encouraging them to dance in the rain with him. His state though in this video is quite fragile. As he is rolled out in a wheelchair, slouched over with his eyes closed, he cannot recognize his own daughter. His daughter tells the team his favorite music she remembers him sharing with her years ago, which they create a playlist for on a iPod and give to Henry. As the headphones are placed on Henry’s head, viewers are shocked to see the mentally impaired man begin to shake his arms and legs. Rocking back and forth with his eyes wide open, Henry proudly sings his favorite tunes that he has not hear in years. Oliver Sacks, a British Neurologist, historian of science, and author, observes the miraculous affects Henry displays in his shift of mood. Amazed, Sacks speaks of the “Philosopher Kant once called music the quickening art. And Henry is being quickened and brought to life”. A quiet patient, Henry was known for having difficulty answering the easiest yes or no questions. After being asked by Sacks if he liked music though, he opens up, answering “I’m crazy about music! You played beautiful music, beautiful sounds”. Though Henry could not remember who his own daughter was, the music instantly allowed Henry to remember others areas of his past. When asked if he liked music when he was young, he responded “Yes! Yes I went to big dances and things”, adding “Cab Calloway was the number one guy I liked”. Sacks closed with asking Henry what his favorite Cab Calloway song was, and Henry began singing “I’ll be Home for Christmas” without hesitation. Considering how Henry was known for rarely speaking or being active due to his dementia, the affect the iPod music had on his speech and emotions was quite extraordinary.

Due to the conclusive results of music listening and playing’s highly effectiveness on mental and physical health, music’s potential for society should be greater recognized. Music allows those who are stressed and overwhelmed to be released from their feelings of sadness and be rejuvenated with contented and peaceful thoughts. These people who were once drained of motivation can now return to work with a newly galvanized mindset. Music has proven as a capable option to relieving one’s stress prior to a surgical operation, which decreases the use of unneeded stress relief drugs. Music can also provide emotion connections between companions that serve as bonds that are too extraordinary to put to words. Music offers many life long lessons and skills such as concentration, participation, and acedemics, which give students a significant edge in the classroom. The Emotions affected by music vary due to musical elements such as tempo, articulation, dynamics, modes, and tone attacks. Finally, music has a profound affect on the attitudes, emotions, and speech of those who endure the misery of mental illness. People are blown away and often brought to tears at how those dealing with a great deal of mental confusion can be truly happy and enthusiastic, simply because they listened to a song. People may believe that there is no hidden meaning in the sounds that come from musical singing and instruments, but they have yet to experience the benefits for themselves. These nonbelievers fail not only to see the difference music makes in others, but also in allowing music to influence them personally. Though an extensive task, classroom style and or performance type music classes should be required in every school in the United States. The best place for people to begin reaping the benefits of music is in education, as children can develop these skills at a young age and learn how to communicate them to the world. One step at a time, music can make the world a more expressive, honest, and cheerful place.
