Music is in my genes. It's in my soul and every fibre of my being. I'm not a professional musician, but I play a few instruments and I come from a family of musicians that has been passed down for generations. I've always known the power of music.
Music is increasingly being studied by scientists as something we humans have been hardwired to do as a biological function and the research findings are supporting the idea that music truly has biological roots. Although researchers are not saying that all humans are capable of the performance of music in a traditional sense, they are indicating that we may be hardwired to enjoy and to engage in music in the same way that we are hardwired for language.
I have a degree in Anthropology, and with all the research available to date, we have discovered that every human society known to humankind has had some form of music as part of their cultural practices and customs.
Steven Mithen, author of The Singing Neanderthals, and archaeologist at the University of Reading in England believes that music was just as important for our early ancestors as our basic survival needs and is still essential to the human race. Mithen combines aspects from musicology together with archaeology, anthropology, psychology, neuroscience to explain why we are so compelled to make and hear music. His theory explores music as a fundamental aspect of the human condition focusing on the relationship between words, thought, and cultural evolution, coming to the conclusion that music is encoded into the human genome during the evolutionary history of our species.
We tend to think the same. Instinctively we humans know that music has primordial power. The basic elements of music are embedded in our soul and run parallel to our genetic makeup:
Pulse – The beat of the pulse -> our heartbeat, our pulse
Pitch – How high or low a note sounds -> our breath
Dynamics, Timbre & Texture – the tone of a musical note & how loud/quiet the music is -> our voice, with its distinctive sound & texture, affecting audibility & articulation
At the core of our existence, we know that music has the ability to make us feel a broad range of emotions - from happy to sad, calm to exhilarated, and more. The effects can be felt almost immediately and can change from one piece to another. There's no doubt about it, the music we create and hear have intimate connections to our soul.
“Music and rhythm find their way into the secret places of the soul.” - Plato
The Positive Effects Of Music
Music unites us all and is a universal language. It is naturally encoded into our genes. There's no denying it - music is in all of us. From the moment we are born until the moment we leave this earth, we all have a natural relationship between music and the way it makes us feel on both the inside, and out.
Research has also shown links between boosting creativity with positive and upbeat music. Human beings are hardwired for music. When we hear a song we like, we automatically begin to feel good, we begin to sing or hum along, and our feet start to move – we want to dance. Music brings out all those 'happy' hormones and has the ability to change your mood in an instant.
So if you are feeling the pandemic blues, put on your favourite tunes, harness the power, turn up the volume, dance, and let your imagination flow. It’s a great way to clear your mind, get the energy flowing, and turn on that creativity!
All posts are intended strictly for educational purposes. It is not intended to make any representations or warranties about the outcome of any product/service.
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