IT HAS LONG BEEN SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN THROUGH VARIOUS EXPERIMENTS THAT SOUND AND MUSIC IMPACT THE PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH OF HUMANS. ARTS THERAPIST AND MENTAL HEALTH COACH CHERITH PEDERSEN DISCUSSES THE VARIOUS WAYS THIS CAN
OCCUR.
Music keeps us chipping
With all the stir that music has created recently in Barbados, we begin to ask: what is all the fuss about? Musical expression like any other art form can and will not meet all tastes. Some may say that if it is offensive, then just don’t listen. But since 1990, the research of Thaut showed that music stimuli has biological effects on our behaviour.
Music determines how specific areas of the brain remembers, learns and is motivated – not difficult to imagine especially during Kadooment, where entire masses of people can revel on the streets in high temperatures for hours. It is the music (and maybe also alcohol) that keeps us chipping.
In our DNA
It is music that has the juice to promote cooperation and cohesion among the masses. Its infectious energy is apparent at any concert and in the work songs of African American slaves.
These songs are the DNA remnants of Western and sub-Saharan Africa.
Bastardised and transformed in the fields of America, the timbre-rich, syncopated, repetitive and polyrhythmic storytelling of this heritage remained in the song. They were an unrelenting and propelling force of energy for those toiling in the fields. In the book, ‘Let the music play: Harnessing the power of music for history and social studies classrooms’, the authors allude to the powers that were ensconced in these sounds. The lyrics not only reminded the ancestors of the homeland, Africa, but also subversively carried seeds of resistance through elusive lyrics.
Early protest songs
The African American slave was able to merge two worlds into one when the negro spiritual was born. They sang with halting pain to the inhumanness of their suffering woven into the beauty of lyric and song. Songs like, “ Sometimes I feel like a motherless child” or “ Go down Moses” bore the tragedy of their existence and the cathartic healing offered by music. These songs were not for entertainment but to protest an unbearable condition. The writer Sullivan in ‘Keep on Pushing: Black power music from Blues to Hip Hop’, captured singer Odetta’s thoughts. She talked about the negro spirituals as a reaction to life: “You’re walking down life’s road, society’s foot is on your throat. Every which way you turn you can’t get out from under that foot. You reach a fork in the road and you can either lie down and die or insist on your life.
Those people who made up those songs insisted on life and living.”
Does music affect the body?
In perioperative care patients, it was music that had a positive effect on reducing patient pain and anxiety.
This was true for 50% of the cases of perioperative patient distress studied by Nilsson (2008). It reveals the power of music on the human body even in a state of unconsciousness. Interestingly enough, the power of sound goes even
further back. While in the womb the foetus can hear sound and by the third trimester recognises the mother’s voice. Mothers often use their voice to coo, hum and sing to calm their babies. It is clear that music and sound are deeply rooted in our experience of being human. In the words of Olaniyan it is the bridge between our human flesh and the soul. In all its forms music creates a sense of belonging, shapes and drives culture, and takes us to unimaginable emotional states. To deny the power of music on our bodies, feelings, and culture is to be numb to life.
Listening without thinking
Music has always had a way of drawing people together. Young people may see it as a path towards crafting their identity and gaining solidarity and in some cases, listening to dark and violent music may even be a sanctuary for their hard-to-express emotions.
Researchers who wrote: ‘Who enjoys listening to violent music and why?’ discovered that persons who listen to lyrical content depicting male violence, power and misogyny often made a conscious effort to abandon critical thinking while listening. Furthermore studies show that individuals with this preference for violent music usually had pre-existing problems of aggression and found pleasure or comfort in this genre. It was also found that listening to violent content may be a way for these individuals to deal with bottled anger and difficult emotions.
Sadly, long-term exposure to media violence may lead to subtle personality changes and a higher threshold for violence and anti-social behaviours, reported Thompson et al in 2019. White power movements
The anti-social behaviours of White power activism has been couched for years in the US and across Europe in music. Music is used among this group to bring power and voice to whites who feel marginalised. The lyrical content of this music movement reinforces their ideologies, grievances and collective identities . Music becomes their vehicle for justifying white supremacy. Analysis of the White Power Music Scene by researchers Futrell et al, show us that it is not just the content of the music we listen to, but also the cultural practices that become dictated by it. The Marley effect
Whether we use music to soothe, calm or relieve pain and anxiety, it is an extremely powerful force and definitely one that can shape minds, movements and culture. Bob Marley is one phenomenal example of the influence of music to shape generations and impact the world through conscious positive lyrics. The truths of hardship and suffering of humankind can culminate in rhythms that lead the heart to ache or find relief. Isn’t it evident that when music is approached with careless intent to harm, it can be dangerous to whole cultures and to humanity?
Cherith Pedersen is a Creative Arts therapist, Artist and Clinical Mental Health Counsellor.
See more about her healing services at www.
lezhaste.com.
become dictated by it.
effect and to humanity?
