Can Music Change Your Mood?

Throughout history, we have used music for a variety of purposes. 

We have used it for a very long time to calm the mind, soothe the soul, and inspire the heart.

Some individuals hold the opinion that music has the power to alter our emotions, personalities, and how we feel about ourselves.

We can use any song for this; song genres are unimportant.

"Researchers have pondered the possible therapeutic and mood boosting benefits of music for centuries".

To Find Out More: Click Here

Why Does Music Bring Back Memories?

Music keeps its ability to evoke powerful emotions and memories because of its universal nature as a form of communication. 

There is no other form of communication that can evoke emotions in individuals as music can.

We can see this in how music can bring back memories of the past.  

We can be transported to a different time and place when we listen to music.

"Listening to a piece of music that was played a lot during a significant life event, such as a wedding or funeral, can trigger a deeply nostalgic emotional experience"

To find out more, click here. 

Seven Interesting Psychological Facts About Music

 

Can Songs And Bass Influence Your Mood?

 

A strong correlation exists between what you hear and how you feel; this relationship between music and emotions is not new.

Some songs can evoke long-buried emotions, instantly altering your attitude and perspective.

But this goes beyond simple kitchen-table psychology; many studies have examined how music affects the mind.  

"Most people have turned to music on occasion to lift their mood, listening to a favourite track to cheer themselves up. "

 

To learn more:

See:  Music Psychology - How Can Songs and Bass Affect Your Mood? By YOTAM DOV

Influence of Personality on Music!

Studies reveal consistent relationships between personality and preferred musical genre.

This article explores these relationships using a novel method: genre dispersion among people’s mobile-phone music collections.  Click Here To Find Out More.

What Sort Of Emotions Does Music Arouse In People?

Image by wadland from Pixabay

"Powerful Links Between Music and Emotions"

Patrik Juslin, Professor of Psychology has written a book in which he summarised his 20 years of research into "what kinds of emotions does music arouse"?

“Music can arouse everything from very simple, primitive responses to complex high-level judgements, including basic emotions like joy, sadness and anger, as well as more complex ones, such as nostalgia. We can experience mixed emotions, contradictory feelings and what I call ‘aesthetic feelings’, based on aesthetic assessment. We feel admiration for a musician or we’re fascinated by the beauty of music”.   MORE

Why We Enjoy Sad Music?

From www.medicaldaily.com - June 17, 9:33 PM

"Music can be a powerful presence in many aspects of people’s lives. It’s second only perhaps to smell in its power to bring back memories from decades ago and recall events or people you had very nearly forgotten."

playalongjon's insight:

The many facets of music!

Are Our Musical Preferences Predetermined?

Music Psychology: The Power of Vibrational Frequency -

From zazenlife.com - May 8, 10:59 PM

"Have you ever wondered why you have a complete disdain for specific styles of music? 

This interesting phenomenon has been the subject of scientific inquiry, hoping to uncover the mystery as to why our musical preferences seem to be predetermined"

playalongjon's insight:

Are we attracted to certain types of music and are these preferences predetermined?  

How Music May Benefit And Affect Your Brain

 

How Music Affects and Benefits Your Brain

From lifehacker.com - January 8, 11:13 PM

 I'm a big fan of music and use it a lot when working, but I had no idea about how it really affects our brains and bodies. Music is such a big part of our lives, and we react to it in many ways without even realizing.  More

playalongjon's insight:

Something which I experience everyday myself.

Music And The Brain : Exploring The Interaction Between Music And The Brain

Rendering of human brain. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So what can music neuroscience teaches us about the brain?  In  the YouTube video below,  Aniruddh Patel, of the Neurosciences Institute discusses just what music can reveal to us about the mind and the brain. He then goes on to explore just what brain science can subsequently teach us about music and how it affects the brain itself.

 

 Music and the Mind

 

 Related articles

• Why We Like Sad Music - New York Times
• The Eerie Music You're About to Hear Is Actually a Brain While It's Experiencing a Seizure | Video

A Psychology Of Music Infographic

ThePsychology of Music infographic 

Six Reasons Why Music Is Important To Us

Ever wonder why music is so  important to us and has such an impact on our emotions? Well wonder no more here they are ! The number one reason is 'Positivity', two & three reasons are 'Diversion and Mood Management', fourth reason is 'Forming Relationships', fifth reason is 'For Personal Identity' and the sixth reason is 'To Learn About Others (and the World)'

Would you like to find out more, well click on this this link which will take you to the article "The Psychology of Music: 6 Reasons We Love (and Need) Music"  where these 'reasons' were published.

Related articles

• When to switch on background music
• Psychology of Music
• The psychology of music
• Music and its prejudices
• Do You Listen To Sad Songs ?
• Music is Calming Solace for Constant Worry

Choosing The Right Genre Of Music

When deciding on what music to listen to it is important to choose the right genre of music for the mood you are in at the time.

" Research has proven that music could be a major mood lifter particularly when one is undergoing tough times. At least every person encounters a downhill in life and during such times, music would probably be the best thing to address such situations else one would find it extremely tough to cope. " MORE

Music and Its Origins

The Singing Neanderthals: The Origins of Music, Language, Mind and Body

A book written perhaps with the linguist Steven Pinker in mind who in 1997 stated that music in evolutionary terms was in fact "useless".  The author Steven Mithen challenges this assertion of Pinker and argues that ......." music has been neglected if not ignored.  Like language it is a universal feature of human culture, one that is a permanent fixture in our daily lives. " ........ MORE

Music And The Imagination

Music, The Brain, And Ecstasy: How Music Captures Our Imagination


An informative and an introduction to what is music and how and why it affects us..... Robert Jourdain explores these topics and others, ..... " from the essential nature of sound through composition, performance, and, finally, the nature of ecstasy "  ....... MORE

How Much Emotion and Meaning Is There In Music ?

 Emotion and Meaning In Music

"Emotion and Meaning in Music " by Leonard B. Meyer  ........ A thought provoking book which   "Analyzes the meaning expressed in music, the social and psychological sources of meaning, and the methods of musical communication"  ....... MORE

How Does 'Music' Exactly Differ From ‘Noise’ ?

The Psychological Significance of Music in Human Communication

Human beings throughout the ages have long considered music to have magical and mysterious qualities. Our primitive ancestors may have found music incomprehensible, perhaps they sensed it as only a series of sounds that expressed moods, threats or order from the spirits that constantly surrounded them. Music nevertheless was a vehicle by which our primitive ancestors were able to communicate direct with the spirits that occupied the outer and invisible world in which they lived.

The Babylonians and the Ancient Greeks try to create a structure on these ‘musical sounds’. In this structure, sound was related to that of the cosmos through an elaborate mathematical conception of sound vibrations connected with numbers and astrology.

As time went by humankind relationship to music slowly changes. No longer was it a means to communicate with the spirits, a threatening force or had supernatural qualities. Music became a vehicle by which human beings were now in personal communication with the deity, one that was a harmonious relationship with God.

Finally it was recognised that music was a medium by which human beings could communicate with their fellow human beings and help to strengthen the bonds of understanding between one another.

Music over the centuries has therefore been looked on as a power that could change and affect humans in a fascinating sort of way. So what exactly is in music that can produce these extraordinary effects on humans? In addition, one needs also ask how 'music' exactly differs from ‘noise’.

If we care to look for a purely scientific analysis explanation of these questions, we are offered the following. Music consists of vibrations in the air or a combination of vibrations that remain constant long enough for the air to be able distinguish them as units in other words as ‘notes’. Noise on the other hand may contain the same vibrations but can only be sustained for a short time. In other words the human ear does not have the opportunity to characterise or distinguish this combination of vibrations as‘notes’.

Does the scientific analysis explanation of music tell us anything about the psychological significance of music in human communication? Cannot music be ‘noise’ and ‘noise’ ‘music’?
I suppose it all down to one's cultural environment !

To decide whether a particular series of 'sounds' is 'noise' or whether it is 'music' is really down to the cultural environment it was created in. This has been the case ever since human beings first began to produce 'sounds'. The 'sounds' produced can only really be understood as 'music' from within the cultural environment from which these 'sounds' were created in. So to understand this 'music' one really needs be 'educated’ in the cultural environment in which it was created.

So 'noise' can be 'music' and 'music' can be 'noise', it all depends on the cultural environment it was created in and from the cultural environment the listener originate from.

Can You Really Become A Happier Person By Listening To Music ?

Music & Emotions: Can Music Really Make You a Happier Person?

The connection between music and emotions has been known since the days of the Ancient Egyptians. It was then taken up by the early Persians, Chinese, Hindus, Egyptians, Israelites, and finally the Ancient Greeks, especially Plato, Aristotle and Pythagoras. Can listening to music therefore make you happy? Well the act of listening and playing music does alter how our brain work which in turn has a knock-on affect on how our body work. It is only now the beneficial effects of listening to music are starting to be understood. When used in music therapy it helps to lessen anxiety and stress in patients and offers some relief of pain. Further it has a positive effects on mood and emotional states.

"Doctors now believe using music therapy in hospitals and nursing homes not only makes people feel better, but also makes them heal faster. And across the nation, medical experts are beginning to apply the new revelations about music’s impact on the brain to treating patients" ........ MORE