Music is something magical. It’s a delectable concoction filled with harmony, expression, and emotion. Confucius once said, “Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without.” Even in the year 2020, where a virus is looking to destroy our connectivity with one another, music is the binding force between one another. The pleasure which Confucius spoke of, is something that meets humans on multiple levels and living without it is unthinkable by many. Today, the piece dives into the pit where music exhibits the power to heal and connect us all.
Pain is experienced by all and the modus operandi in which we deal with that pain varies from child to adult. Bob Marley stated, “one good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain” and it’s music that helps many cope during moments where no other medicine or vice can suffice. Stress is an immense pain that many experience especially given the day and age of COVID-19 and social networks have continued to grow in the face of this stress using music to help us all stay afloat. “In 2007, a study in Germany found that music therapy helped improve motor skills in patients recovering from strokes (…). Other studies have found that music therapy can boost the immune system, improve mental focus, help control pain, create a feeling of well-being and greatly reduce anxiety of patients awaiting surgery” (Lloyd). No matter the affliction, music has the power to heal.
“In a 2013 review of the research on music, Stefan Koelsch, music psychologist at the Freie University Berlin, described several mechanisms through which music impacts our ability to connect with one another—by impacting brain circuits involved in empathy, trust, and cooperation—perhaps explaining how it has survived in every culture of the world” (Suttie). This ability to connect is clear in the rap cyphers and circle pits that fill the underground world of both hip hop and metal music. The trust that a band demonstrates between one another is no stronger that the bond between a dj and the artist performing on a stage. Music strengthens bonds and builds relationships between cultures and humans or would otherwise never have met if it weren’t for music. In his article titled, The Power of Music, Oliver Sacks stated, “we see the coercive power of music if it is of excessive volume, or has an overwhelming beat, at rock concerts where thousands of people, as one, may be taken over, engulfed or entrained by the music, just as the beat of war drums can incite extreme martial excitement and solidarity.” As a young man, my Saturday nights in rural Springfield, Ohio were filled with tight jeans and hardcore dancing to every kind of ‘core’ music possible, all of which exemplified that very martial excitement and solidarity. “Studies find that social cohesion is higher within families and among peer groups when young people listen to music with their family members or peers, respectively. This effect is true even in cultures where interdependence is less valued, pointing to music’s potential to act as “social glue” that binds people together” (Suttie). During this unparalleled moment in history where COVID-19 is socially isolating us all, music continues to be that social glue that we all need to push forward.
References
Lloyd, R. (2008 October 15). Amazing Power of Music Revealed. https://www.livescience.com/2953-amazing-power-music-revealed.html
Sacks, O. (2006) The Power of Music. Brain. Vol. 129. pp. 2528 – 2532 https://academic.oup.com/brain/article/129/10/2528/292982
Suttie, J. (2015 January 15). Four Ways Music Strengthens Social Bonds. https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/four_ways_music_strengthens_social_bonds
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Matt Dolan
educator, leader, social entrepreneur, friend, human being, gamer, photographer, graphic designer, optimist