Music, the ultimate drug!

If you've never used music to blow off steam, or to relax and improve your mood you're missing out! According to Daniel J. Denoon's article on music and mood, music, in all its forms improves mood, no matter what! Valerie N. Stratton, PhD, and Annette H. Zalanowski, of Penn State University conducted a study which included psychology and music students keeping music-listening diaries for 2 weeks. "Not only did our sample of students report more positive emotions after listening to music, but their already positive emotions were intensified by listening to music," Stratton stated. It's amazing to think that something like music can almost act as an antidepressant drug, without the horrible side effects. The students reported being more optimistic, joyful, friendly, relaxed, and calm. They also reported feeling less negative and sad. "Every positive mood except loving rose in intensity after episodes of listening to music," Zalanowski said in a news release. "Meanwhile, most of the negative moods showed a drop in frequency -- except sad, hateful, and aggressive, which either stayed the same or increased slightly."

Because of the increasing knowledge of the uplifting powers of music, a new form of therapy has been born. It's called music therapy and, apparently, it's quite effective. Researchers from Cochrane Collaboration found that treatment including music therapy was more effective in relieving depression symptoms that treatment which did not include music whatsoever. “The current studies indicate that music therapy may be able to improve mood and has low drop-out rates,” said Anna Maratos, an arts therapist for the National Health Service in London. “While the evidence came from a few small studies, it suggests that this is an area that is well worth further investigation….We need to find out which forms have greatest effect.” And I agree with Anna 110%. In the future, if we could treat or even cure depression with just single tune, well that's worth investing in. A 100% natural "drug" and no side effects, can't get much better that that.

Denoon, D. J. (2003). Music improves mood. WebMD, Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/news/20031022/music-improves-mood

Parker-Pope, T. (2008, January 24). Using music to lift depression's veil. The New York Times, Retrieved from http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/24/using-music-to-lift-depressions-veil

Music and your mood.

Jeff Bachmeier, owner of 977music.com, explains briefly what kinds of music can get you pumped for the day ahead and what kinds of music will lull you to sleep. He also explains briefly what music can be used for, such as to entertain you while commuting or to cheer you up when you're down. Or to set the mood for a romantic night with a loved one. Regardless of what you're trying to achieve, Bachmeier knows that music can affect your mood.

I must say that while I was reading Bachmeier's article, I couldn't help but feel it was a bit redundant although I completely agree with what he has to say. Sure, who's going to get up in the morning when they have Mozart playing on their alarm clock. That person will only want to go right back to sleep. In fact, music has such a profound effect on our emotions that music can even make us feel more connected to someone, as Bachmeier stated.

Something I found particularly interesting is that Bachmeier said, "Music can set the tone for your day or night." After thinking about this, I came to the conclusion that music can almost even determine what kind of day you're going to have. You know that book The Secret? It basically talks about how positive thinking can change your life to however you want to be. Well I think that listening to upbeat and positive music can have the effect as having positive thinking. If you listen to post-hardcore (aka screamo) music all day, you're going to have a strange day, and you'll probably even feel aggressive. Alternatively, if you listen to overly happy music you'll feel as if you can take on the world.

Bachmeier, J. (2011). Music and the effects on your mood. Retrieved from http://977music.com/blog/2009/09/music-and-the-effects-on-your-mood/

Why music?

Music has a funny way of making us feel something. For example, when you're at the beach enjoying your day away from the stress of your daily grind, listening some Reggae will make you feel as if you're on a caribbean island and any tension or stress will just melt away. Or let's say you're working hard at the gym. I bet you won't be listening to Classical music, you'll be listening to an electronic dance song with a much faster tempo and loud pounding percussions. You'll need something to motivate you to push through your workout and that electronic dance song has the bass and melodies to do that much better than Classical music. But what is it about the bass and the fast tempo that keeps us motivated? Why is it that Reggae music can be so relaxing? What is the magic behind music? That's what this blog is dedicated to finding out.

My passion for music started back when I was in the 6th grade. My sister had joined my middle school's band class and she told me about the class and how it was so amazing. When I was in 5th grade, I had two choices for an elective. Either band class or the wheel (a combination of health, computer and p.e. class) and I only knew about the band class and all of the wonderful things my sister told me. So, naturally, I chose band class. I didn't know at the time, but I would later be known as a band geek, along with all the other band kids, something my sister failed to mention. It's not important to me now whether I'm called a band geek or not but, at the time, I would've never chose band class had I known that I'd be called a band geek. I'm glad I did end up choosing band because the band instructor opened my eyes to the world of music. His name was Mr. Williams and he is by far one of the most inspirational people I've ever met. He's the one who sparked the passion for music inside of me. Before that, I was content listening to any pop song with a catchy melody. After learning how to play an instrument and how to read and write music I felt like I got to know music on a much more deep and personal level. It's that passion that has lead me to want to know more and more about music.