Power of music

“I was born with music inside me. Music was one of my parts. Like my ribs, my kidneys, my liver, my heart. Like my blood. It was a force already within me when I arrived on the scene.” Ray Charles

Conventional wisdom has it that music is a relatively modern human invention, and one that, while fun and rewarding, is a luxury rather than a necessity of life. But the relationship between humans and music goes back to our very beginnings as a species and could viably be considered integral to how we function in groups and optimally develop as individuals today.

While the oldest discovered musical instruments in the world (flutes made of bones and mammoth ivory) are over 40,000 years old, our abilities to create vocal rhythms and song are significantly older. Fossil records from over 530,000 years ago indicate that early humans had the horseshoe-shaped hyoid bone in the throat in a similar position to modern humans, and they would have had the physical ability to sing as we can. Martínez, I., Arsuaga, J. L., Quam, R., Carretero, J. M., Gracia, A., & Rodríguez, L. (2008). Human hyoid bones from the middle Pleistocene site of the Sima de los Huesos (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain). Journal of human evolution, 54(1), 118-124.

Research suggests that music may have allowed our distant ancestors to communicate before the invention of language and helped provide the social glue needed for the emergence of the first large early and pre-human societies. At some point in our prehistory, humans began to come together in larger groups, and needed a way to broadcast their emotional state to a greater number of individuals to keep the group united. In the 1990s, researchers Leslie Aiello and Robin Dunbar, of the University College in London, suggested our ancestors began communicating with emotional tones they called ‘vocal grooming’ to cement social cohesion on a large scale. Individuals could express sadness, pain, joy, happiness, pleasure, etc. through vocalizations of various pitches, tempos, and durations.

It may also be that a facility for music represents a complex biological adaptation for humans. Researcher Geoffrey Miller points out that music is universal, with no culture in any period of recorded history being without some aspect of music; representational of high ability; with large segments of adult populations able to carry a tune and appreciate the music of others; specialized; involving memory and specific purpose cortical areas which make it possible to recognize thousands of melodies; signaling of superior mate status; analogous with the reproductive “singing” signals of other species, such as songbirds, gibbons, and whales. Miller, G. (2000). Evolution of human music through sexual selection (pp. 329-360)

As an adaptive response, music would also have been useful for mothers to communicate emotion and to strengthen the social bond between themselves and their infants. Such “Infant Directed Singing” also may have evolved as a mechanism for enhancing the growth and development of infants. By providing continual vocal sounds characterized by greater emotional voice quality, raised pitch level, and slower rate or tempo, a mother could regulate an infant’s arousal, better emotional regulation and optimize mood; thus facilitating optimal feeding and sleeping schedules. Trehub, S. E. (2003). Musical predispositions in infancy: An update.

While music may have developed and expanded alongside human evolution, it has real impacts on individuals in our time as well, and practical uses today in terms of our best mental health outcomes. While there are many studies which address the physical health benefits of ongoing exposure to listening to and participating in music throughout one’s life, from a mental health standpoint a strong case can be made that optimal emotional development of individuals is made possible through a life-long engagement with music and song. A developmental timeline is illustrative:

· Pre-Birth Third trimester, near term Infants exposed in the womb to calming music can retain memorization of those songs following six weeks after birth and experience a significant reduction in rapid heartrate and manifest soothed experience when the same song is played for the baby. Granier-Deferre, C., Bassereau, S., Ribeiro, A., Jacquet, A. Y., & DeCasper, A. J. (2011). A melodic contour repeatedly experienced by human near-term fetuses elicits a profound cardiac reaction one month after birth. PLoS One, 6(2), e17304.

· Infancy- Music can bring on strong emotions. By listening to expressive music, babies hone their ability to detect moods and emotions in others, while developing awareness of their own inner processes through the nuances of feelings evoked by the music. Active music participation at six months of life can result is less distress when exposed to novel stimuli, more access to positive experiences including smiling and laughter and greater receptiveness to being soothed. Trainor, L. J., Marie, C., Gerry, D., Whiskin, E., & Unrau, A. (2012). Becoming musically enculturated: effects of music classes for infants on brain and behavior. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1252(1), 129-138.

· Early Childhood-One of the most important parts of early musical emotional development is the impact on empathy. Toddlers engaged in group music activities watch other children for subtle cues, such as volume, timing, and facial/body expressiveness. Learning to track and understand such cues also provides young children with experience in correctly tracking, perceiving, and relating to the feelings of others, the basis for empathic relations. Williamson, V. (2014). You are the music: How music reveals what it means to be human. Icon Books Ltd.

· Adolescence-Positive emotional reactions for adolescents following music listening correlates strongly with overall trends in positive emotional well-being; as does social musical congruence with friends or parents (i.e., sharing similar music tastes and having fewer conflicts about music) Miranda, Dave, and Patrick Gaudreau. "Music listening and emotional well-being in adolescence: A person-and variable-oriented study." European Review of Applied Psychology 61.1 (2011): 1-11.

· Early Adulthood- In addition to developing personal and social skills, music may also have the capacity to increase emotional sensitivity. Researchers have found that there was a relationship between the ability to recognize emotions in performances of music and measures of emotional intelligence which required individuals to identify, understand, reason with, and manage emotions using hypothetical scenarios conveyed pictorially or in writing. Resnicow, J. E., Salovey, P., & Repp, B. H. (2004). Is recognition of emotion in music performance an aspect of emotional intelligence? Music Perception, 22(1), 145-158.

· Middle Adulthood- A 2013 study of individuals in this age group found that music helped to induce better moods and helped adults to get in touch with their feelings. Study participants rated "arousal and mood regulation" and "self-awareness" as the two most important benefits of listening to music. Schäfer, T., Sedlmeier, P., Städtler, C., & Huron, D. (2013). The psychological functions of music listening. Frontiers in psychology, 4, 511.

· Late Adulthood- Listening and engagement in music can help senior citizens connect with feelings of spirituality, enhance spiritual health, and help them to achieve a sense of emotional regeneration and renewal. Participation in music by elderly individuals promotes a sense of well-being, thus helping them balance “the intellectual, emotional, and spiritual facets of their lives” Hays, T., & Minichiello, V. (2010). Exploring the Meaning and Function of Music in the Lives of Older People. In Qualitative journeys: Student and mentor experiences with research. Sage Publications.

So, how can music play a role in helping you to achieve greater mental health and emotional well-being?

Since active music listening and participation activates neurotransmitters involved in pleasure, modulates hormones involved in stress and increases social bonding, making it a consistent part of your life can reap great rewards.

Here are a few practical steps you can take to utilize music as a tool for your betterment:

Drumming- To reduce experiences of stress, trauma, and anxiety, as well as provide an emotional catharsis or release of bottled-up anger and aggression, drumming provides scope for self-realization and introspection. This can be done with formal drumming kits instruments, or with tools around the home that allow the user to create a rhythm. Even hands on a table surface can be used to follow a pattern along with a song listened on the radio. Even better if this activity can be conducted with others, as drumming also has a positive social connotation and brings people together as part of a group.

Singing- Whether it is formally with a group, as part of Karaoke, or alone in your shower or car, singing is a universal technique that is suitable for individuals of all ages and backgrounds. Many psychologists call singing the ‘mega-vitamin’ for the brain, and formal training or skill is not necessary to realize the benefits. Studies have shown that listening to songs or singing along with them helps in repairing damaged brain tissues. This is a reason why singing is a crucial part of treating Parkinson’s disease, dementia, and Alzheimer’s.

Music Selection- As an aid to emotional self-regulation, choose a piece of music you are familiar with to evoke positive emotions and engender associated healing memories. Assign a visualization to the music which evokes a pleasant environment. Having a selection of such songs, or musical “emotional toolkit” provides for a meditative practice to support self-awareness and acceptance when challenges cognitions or emotions arise. When needed, you can play the song appropriate the situation or experience.

Feeling Expression- In conjunction with the song selections described above, a written record is created to describe for each song choice the emotional impact and context of the song. You will note what comes to mind when you hear the song, how they make you feel, and specific lyrics or parts of the song which are critical and why. 15 Music Therapy Activities and Tools (positivepsychology.com)

Sleep Adjustment- Music can reduce sympathetic nervous system activity and decrease anxiety and depressive states; this can have result in positive effects on sleep via muscle relaxation and distraction from thoughts. Playing soothing music (Classical or otherwise) for 45 minutes prior to bedtime can be an effective treatment for insomnia and sleep difficulties. Harmat, L., Takács, J., & Bódizs, R. (2008). Music improves sleep quality in students. Journal of advanced nursing, 62(3), 327-335.

These are just a few of the many evidence-based musical interventions which you may choose; there are many others that you may employ. What role does music play in your life, and how do you utilize it for your own well-being?