Week #11- Kirti Kande- The Power of Music
The Power of Music
Music is a part of our everyday lives. I am 99.9% sure that everyone listens, at least once, to some
form of music every single day, whether it be an advertisement, background music, or an actual song.
Music has helped people channel their emotions when it comes to creating or listening to it.
Music, personally, helped me to release my pent-up emotions, concentrate on my homework, or
just have fun with friends and family. To add on, I recently learned that music can also help medical
diagnoses such as Parkinson’s disease and strokes and help treat diseases.
In the novel The Power of Music, Elena Mannes explains how music has helped various groups
of people and how it could potentially be useful in the world of health care. She says that “scientists
have found that music stimulates more parts of the brain than any other human function” (Mannes).
There was a study on newborn babies to see how they would respond to music being played in their
ears and after a while, some of their cries had a few notes of the western music that was being
played to them. Reading that statement, I was in shock. Just listening to a song every day allowed
day and week old babies to loosely replicate notes of the song. This shows how much music stimulates
the brain, even from day one. A technique that has been used in regards to musical therapy
is called melodic intonation therapy which “uses music to coax portions of the brain into taking
over for those that are damaged. In some cases, it can help patients regain their ability to speak” (Mannes).
This form of therapy is used especially when patients want to avoid an invasive procedure, surgery.
As more studies are conducted on how the brain reacts to music, I believe a greater amount of
less invasive approaches to treating medical issues will emerge. Something that we can just access
on our phones and be able to hear for free all around us can potentially save and cure people; now
that is powerful.
Image: https://whatsupmag.com/culture/music/music-charms-healing-power-music-therapy/
Hey Kirti! I, for one, am always listening to music and can definitely vouch for its benefits. Any bad mood can instantly be fixed with the right playlist and setting. It was really interesting to read about how even babies can feel and recognize patterns in music and even replicate them! I know there are many benefits to music therapy, including improving one’s mood and self-expression. I even have a few friends who help out at centers with this form of therapy! Music is truly a beautiful thing. The rhythm allows us to calm down and distract ourselves from pressing matters, giving us a much needed break. The benefits of music are endless! Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHey Kirti! Music certainly is a large part of my life (as my 70,000 something minutes on Spotify last year testify), but I had no idea it could be used for medical things like Parkinsons! The fact that babies could imitate music being played to them is actually rather funny because now I have an image of a baby singing Justin Bieber’s “Baby”. The fact that music can even be used as a substitute for music is certainly shocking and I really do hope that as you say they figure out how to make less invasive fors out surgery using music. The more you know!!
ReplyDeleteHey Kirti! Music certainly is a large part of my life (as my 70,000 something minutes on spotify last year testify), but I had no idea it could be used for medical things like Parkinsons! The fact that babies could imitate music being played to them is actually rather funny because now I have an image of a baby singing Justin Bieber’s “Baby”. The fact that music can even be used as a substitute for music is certainly shocking and I really do hope that as you say they figure out how to make less invasive alternatives for surgery using music. I certainly have learned a lot and been shocked by even more. The more you know!!
ReplyDeleteHi Kirti, music is something that seems on the surface "useless" or "powerless" in the modern world, but it is truly amazing to see its impact on so many people in many different ways. Like you mentioned and I'm sure a lot of us can relate to, music can be a way to express yourself emotionally. However, I did not know that it had medical benefits as well, which makes it even more fascinating. Music truly is an art and it is far more important than it seems.
ReplyDeleteHey Kirti, the power of music really does have an acting effect upon your own attitude. There are many areas of which this can be applied, and this idea can be accurately demonstrated through simply looking at my music playlists. I have playlists of piano pieces for when I am studying or doing homework, happy and upbeat music for walking home, and intense heavy music for working out. I find that if I play the wrong genre of music for the activity I am doing, there really does not seem to be a connection and I find it difficult to focus on the task I am doing. The power of music that acts upon our own attitudes truly is amazing.
ReplyDeleteMusic is definitely a huge part of my life and I’m looking forward to seeing its medical applications. I always grew up with the notion that babies should be talked to and sung to and it would help their development, and on the other hand that my elders were still sharp because of music and recited verses. Similarly to art therapy, it will be nice to see music therapy become more common, not only will it help patients but it will legitimize creative careers as valuable. I hope to see artistic manners of healing become more common because of everything I’ve tried to soothe my soul, nothing does it as quickly and completely as art and I’m hardly the only person who feels this way.
ReplyDeleteHi Kirti! I always listen to music whenever doing homework or sometimes in my free time as well. While there is this idea that listening to music can make you distracted while doing a task, it can actually help me become more focused and motivated to work. I especially find it effective to listen to songs I have already heard, as they can often blend in the background and allow you to focus. Music can really affect your attitude, and listening to different music for different tasks is something that helps me a lot. I had a separate playlist of piano music for when I took AP Euro notes that allowed me to make taking notes a routine that I got used to. It is fascinating to think that music can have medical applications, and it really shocked me to learn that babies can imitate music. The image of a baby imitating western music is kind of amusing, but it really goes to show how powerful it is.
ReplyDeleteHey Kirti, I definitely have noticed that the different music I listen to affects my moods in various ways. I was aware of how much music can influence our well-being, listening to a lofi song can be comforting or listening to an upbeat pop song can be uplifting, but I never knew that it can help us to the point of helping treat diseases which I find really fascinating. I remember learning about aphasia in Psychology which is a language disorder that affects your ability to communicate, so I wonder how musical therapy can effect people with aphasia. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHi Kirti, finding out that music could stimulate human brains was very mind blowing to me. I often wonder if my cat likes listening to me playing piano or music from my phone, however, she has yet to react to any sounds other than the sound of the microwave when her wet food is ready. Additionally, today, I saw a video of a parrot bobbing his head to his owner’s singing and it reminded me of your blog. The power of music truly is more complex than it seems. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHi Kirti! From my personal experience, I definitely agree that music is super powerful. It is amazing how the flow of a song and the beats of a song can change people’s emotions so much. For me, I use music to relieve my stress. Sometimes I listen to music when doing math homework to make the work less tedious. However, I had no clue music is so useful in the medical field. It was interesting to learn about how music can be used for therapy and even diagnose and cure diseases. On top of all this, I also find music to be a great tool to help memorize things like the Periodic Table song. Thank you for sharing!
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