Can music change the way we think and act?
Occasionally I browse the search queries that bring people to this site, and the question in the title was one of them. It made me think a little bit more serious about this: can music really change the way we think and act? Obviously, I believe it can, because otherwise I wouldn't have written the post on Howard Shore's music. And I'm not the only one who thinks so: "Of all the fine arts, music is that which most influences the passions, and that, therefore, which a legislator should do most to encourage. A few bars of moral music, composed by a master hand cannot fail to affect the feelings, and have much more influence than a well-written book about morality, which convinces our reason without altering our habits." (Napoleon Bonaparte). So, obviously, there is some effect, but how does it work?
Music influences the way you feel, and that in turn influences the way you think and thus the way you act. For example, when you're feeling a bit down, you can put on your favourite music and presto!: you feel better and are more inclined to take on something. This is the way music is used in films, but perhaps an even better example would be corporate video and commercials, where the makers want you to act in a certain way. Using the right music greatly enhances their chances to achieve their objectives. This by the way shows why using "stock music" on corporate videos is generally a bad idea since it's generic and doesn't target the audience's emotions like specifically composed music can. Also, it often forces the editor to adapt his cuts to this generic music, which detracts from the efficiency even more.
Apart from affecting our emotions there is another way in which music effects the way we think and act that is only just beginning to be researched: the effect of music on memory, learning and even productivity. For example, this post from Dr. Ellen Weber's blog shows what effect different kinds of music have on your feelings and how that can enhance your day. This seems to be based on the release of specific enzymes in your brain. So there are many examples of how music can influence the way we think and act.
However, I do think that in order to have an effect on feelings, thoughts and actions, the music should relate to the person hearing it. If the idiom of the music is too foreign to the listener, it will fail to have an effect. Maybe that's why "contemporary classic" and avant-garde jazz do not affect the general audiences that much. The goal of that kind of music is to explore artistic boundaries, which is a different matter alltogether. But composers should be aware of this, I think, since either way it will affect feelings. Also, think about this the next time you put on some music. If you want to achieve a certain goal, you might want to put on a certain type of music! What are your thoughts?
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Music and its very powerful effects.
This is very very true. Music has changed my mind, the way I function and many other aspects of me. It's something you really can't explain to another, even the closest person because its all emotion and feelings, like mine, they are colors that collide with eachother and create beautiful thoughts and places in my mind. Music has such an effect on me at points where I will open my eyes when listening to music and actually make myself imagine being in that thought of a grassy field with beautiful grass and hills. It's very interesting how music has also saved my life from many hard times. It acts as my shield, or an angel that protects me from all the pain. I wish I had a way to actually show my thoughts in the sky, over the whole world. These images and ideas I have would change the way a human looks through their eyes, It's changing me. I'm the only one with this rapidly changing affect as I grow older, I'm currently 15 and learning things that someone well in their 50's would have had to gain over a whole life. Sometimes I get scared knowing these thoughts can be so much more, there is just no way I can show them. I tried making movies, Singing, Loving someone and showing them, It's never the same. My mind is my home. That home doesn't like company at all. Instead it keeps me in its chair, looking at the door out. I wonder when I pass away, I will be able to show all these imaginations of love, passions, a new world of just happiness. Inside everyone is that feeling of a happy place. It just takes the right person to see a heart instead of a chest.
Anyone can read this and nod their head yes or no to what they like about it, But it's true and these feelings are inside of me. Everyday they are growing into something insane and very very big. One day it will explode.
-Thank you for the time it took to read this and I hope you understand me. If you'd like to talk more about this with me, I'd love to have a friend.
Burton1305@aol.com.
gameplay and music
Can music effect the way you play a game?And How?
sure it can inspire you to
sure it can inspire you to do better in the game with the super hyper trance, or rock, haha also increase your pleasure in gaming, motivation etc.
music surely can inspire you but it defends on the listener
music surely can inspire the person who listen but, we have to keep in mind that music is just a music that can add as a spice to our everyday living. sometimes it helps us relax, inspires us specially when a person is in love. people who makes music as a way of living meaning when a person do what the lyrics says in a music this is something different i guess. .
i can relate to what u are
i can relate to what u are saying, as i am writing this letter i have my earphones on and currently listening to alicia keys new day its funny ause i suffer from panic attacks anxiety, but when im listening to music t hat all goes out the window it coalm me down to the point im free for the moment im in the sky with godd and i could see down clearly i call it my life glasses lol, anyways they say find what make u happy and motivated and i always loved music, it makes me feel different like brave, sexy, calm, soft, im a visual learner so i guess hearing n visualizing thing at the moment is whats helping me i never read any facts on it but i can only be a a living proof on this. its not easy thinking about your everyday living life feel me so when i turn on music n just go to a place that not mine is refreshing. im entering a deminsion of un human and its beautiful.
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