What influence does music have on people?

Music is a language universal capable of awakening unique emotions and sensations. Sometimes you hear someone sing in an unknown language, but you can feel what they want to convey, even if you don’t know specifically what the lyrics say. What you do know is that it is expressing something happy, or sad, or dramatic, etc.

Music is like chocolate, almost everyone likes it. This has been happening since time immemorial. Since culture itself has existed, there has also been a place for those rhythmic sounds that communicate feelings. In all times and in all civilizations there has existed this very particular form of expression, so rich in styles.

Without realizing it, sometimes we turn to music looking for a container for feelings that overwhelm us, a place where they can overflow freely without harming anyone. Other times we get together to dance and let the musical rhythms set the tone of the party. We also look for melodies to calm ourselves, or to study or work. But, what really is the influence of music in our minds?

An experiment around music

This experiment was carried out at the BUAP psychology faculty, in Mexico. It was directed by Professor Roberto Valderrama Hernández. Your purpose was to find out what the effect of a “loud” melody on anxiety was. A “loud” melody is understood to be one that has an irregular, marked, fast rhythm and is listened to at a high volume. It basically corresponds to “heavy metal” or “heavy metal”.

137 subjects were chosen for the study. Among them, 31 were men and 106 were women. The average age was 20 years and all were psychology students. First, they were given a test to measure their anxiety state. After They were made to listen to fragments of heavy metal 5 minutes each. In total, each researcher completed a 47-minute listening session.

The researcher was able to observe that During the listening periods, the participants increased their nervousness. They appeared restless and expressed this by constantly changing positions and with erratic movements of their hands and feet.

Valderrama was able to conclude that these types of exciting melodies increased the level of anxiety. The explanation lies in the fact that this kind of rhythms They intensely stimulate the sympathetic system and this increases physical and psychological tension. If this is not released through movements such as dancing or jumping, the energy accumulates and gives rise to symptoms of anxiety.

The positive effect of music

That musical notes “generate” energy is not a problem. The problem comes when this energy cannot be spent doing physical activity. In that sense, “loud music” is great for situations that require energetic or competitive behavior.

In addition, Musical notes have the ability to relax us. It is achieved with those genres that have more regular, slower rhythms and the volume is not as high.. Some pieces of classical, instrumental or soft pop music help to calm us down. They are even used in rooms where radiotherapy or aggressive medical treatments are carried out.

Science has been able to establish that musical rhythms stimulate different areas of the brain. In fact, research from the University of Florida suggests that musical rhythms offer more brain activation than any other known stimulus. Among the main positive effects are the following:

Strengthens learning and memory.Regulates hormones related to stress.It allows you to evoke experiences and memories. It affects your heartbeat, blood pressure and pulse.Modulates the speed of brain waves.

It has also been proven that good music strengthens the immune system and translates into better health.. It’s not for nothing that cows give more milk when Mozart sonatas are played. It is also not random that plants bloom more when there is music in the background. The key is to find the rhythm that can benefit us in each specific situation, so that we can get the most out of it in our favor.

Finally, we must not forget the impact of music on our emotions. Most of us have used it to promote certain emotional states such as happiness or sadness. In fact, one study showed that Listening to music while driving can have a positive impact on your mood. Furthermore, it was found that driving performance in high-demand situations is not negatively affected by music.

And in the musicians? What influence does it have?

Power the development of perceptual skills that affect language learning and subsequently impact literacy.Helps develop fine motor coordination as you learn to play an instrument.Improves spatial reasoningan aspect of general intelligence that is related to some of the skills necessary for mathematics.Improves self-perceptionas long as the child has positive and rewarding learning experiences.You might be interested…