“You are what you eat.”
We’ve all heard that old nostrum regarding our health. In my years as a bookseller, “you are what you read” was a recurring refrain. In truth, of course, each of us is the sum of all of our experiences—what we see, hear, and feel.
And that includes music.
Great thinkers of the past and present have written about the tremendous impact of music on the human spirit. Aristotle, for instance, addressed the passions that instruments and singing can arouse, the importance of educating the young in that realm, and the effects of listening to ignoble music. More than 2,000 years later, British philosopher Roger Scruton wrote and spoke extensively about music in much the same way.
Unlike our ancestors, we moderns are surrounded by music. In the coffee shop where I’m writing these words, pop music is playing in the background. On my car radio are a couple of dozen stations, most of them pouring out today’s rock or country hits. At home, if I wish, I can tap a couple of keys on my laptop and have music from around the world.
Yet, how often do we take into consideration, as did Aristotle and Scruton and so many others, the effect of music on our hearts and minds?
That the songs and compositions influence us is beyond debate. That kid who roars around town blaring out rap music so that his car itself seems to shake surely has a different template of the soul than the college pianist and music major enamored with Bach and Mozart. Without proof, I would also hazard a guess that the recent increase in sadness and depression among teenage girls stems in part from today’s increasingly bleak themes in popular music.
And yet, if we choose to do so, we can all make music work for us in healthy and pleasurable ways.
Work, Study, Rest, and Stress
If we search online for “what sort of music is good for us,” we find loads of advice on the benefits of music for work, relaxation, and relief from anxiety. Psychologists, musicologists, and musicians all tout the analeptic effects of good music.If you’re looking for music to accompany work or study, for example, read some of these articles and then try experimenting to find what works for you. Maybe you’ll discover that peaceful classical music lets you dig into that work you’ve carried home from the office. Maybe the songs of a favorite vocalist will help you pound out that paper for your class.
Reunions With Ourselves
Got a case of the blues? Sometimes certain songs can evoke the past with a sweetness that calls us back to the best in ourselves.In his article on the psychological benefits of music regarding our past, Markham Heid writes: “Like a great theme song that ties together different parts of a film, listening to old hits from the soundtrack of your life can help you get back in touch with yourself in a way that promotes a sense of heightened ‘self-continuity,’ which music researchers describe as ‘a sense of temporal connection between one’s past and one’s present.’”
Hearing a certain song can transport us back to a summer day at the swimming pool when we were 16 or to a special vacation when we were 40. These melodic links to the past can remind us of who we were and where we’ve been, and ground us more firmly in the present.
Sing Alones
You say your voice would make Bob Dylan sound like Pavarotti? Who cares? When you’re alone, go ahead and belt out a song you know or sing along with one on your phone or computer. Gene Kelly had a blast “Singin’ in the Rain,” and you can do the same with “Singin’ in Your Car.”When alone, I’ve boomed out Christmas carols at 5 a.m. in July or conjured up old songs when alone in my Honda Civic. Just the other day, while on a long, grueling trip, I accompanied Jimmy Dean singing “Big Bad John” while driving on the interstate, and our duet, goofy as it was, made me feel like I could drive another hundred miles without breaking a sweat.
You’ve got an entire universe of music at your fingertips. Play it, sing it, and punch up your life.
