An affiliation with music, whether positive or negative, is part of civilization. Music has a profound effect on people, which could explain why mothers sing lullabies to calm their children, hoping to swoon them over with soothing melodies to help them drift away to la-la land.
Music to the Ears
However, research shows that finding that magic melody is about personal preferences, says Duane Shinn, author of Amazing Secrets of Exciting Piano Chords & Sizzling Chord Progressions. Music appears to be based on individual taste, but to achieve the effect for example of calming a child.
"The key is to find a melody that has a slow steady beat (ideally at or under sixty beats per minute, which is just below the resting rate of the human heart) that will help the child relax,” explains Shinn.
Human Emotions in Music
According to the renowned British ethnomusicologist John Baily, the Taliban banned music. The school of thought is that music is "an unnecessary distraction from the serious matters of life, [and] could lead to licentious behavior and other such 'bad things,'" expresses Baily. Therefore, it could be deduced that based on the cultural setting, music had bad connotations, but not all forms of music were censored.
The Taliban still allowed religious singing and chanting without the use of musical instruments, states Baily. This censoship of music that includes musical instruments could be regarded as an assertion against western style music played with instruments of Satan, explains Baily.
Taking a different stance, Mark Changizi, a professor in the Department of Cognitive Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, states that music is charged with emotion. This could explain why "happy music" is pleasant, and therefore, it is a unique human experience, he adds.
Music in Motion
Reiterating Shinn’s theory that music may incite both positive and negative emotions, Changizi explains that human movement has been an underlying factor of music stretching as far back as the Greeks. According to Changizi, these movements conjure pleasant images in some people, while others might link certain movements with horrible experiences such as fear and anxiety. The sound of running perhaps could evoke emotions of pleasure for someone.Nonetheless, the same sound, could frighten others, adds Shinn.
What music makes people feel is in essence a personal journey. The lure of a musical limerick is probably best described by Dr Deforia Lane, Music Therapist and Director of Music Therapy at University Hospitals of Cleveland, when she says: “Music has the power to move a person between different realities: from a broken body into a soaring spirit, from a broken heart into the connection of shared love, from death into the memory and movement of life.”
Further Reading
For more information on music and the psychology behind it, see The Psychology of Music
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