One of the biggest turning points in my life was when I took a critical listening course during my bachelors program. I learned during this class, that music is one of the only experiences in life that affects all aspects of the brain simultaneously. When I discovered this, I immediately made the correlation of music to the way that individuals behave.
I personally feel that, to a large degree, many of us fail to realize the relevance and effect of music on our society. There is almost nothing we experience in our day-to-day life that does not contain some sort of soundtrack. From commercials, to movies, to even our shopping experience, every aspect of our life is inundated with accompanying music and would seem oddly silent without it. In addition, almost all of us tend to link specific memories to specific music. It is amazing how simply replaying a song from one's adolescence can conjure up memories of a moment of triumph, heartbreak, or even that girl you had a crush on in the tenth grade.
It only stands to reason, then, that music would be the perfect vehicle to facilitate healing when utilized properly. Music therapy is an
established health profession, and to this end there is even an
American Music Therapy Association. So then, this raises the question of how important music really is. It's
psychological effects have been well studied and documented, and it has even been
proven to
improve plant growth (now if we could just get those farmers to get on board with this).
Overall, it seems that the therapeutic effects of music are definitely worth investigating further in the future. Our understanding of the human mind is at it's infancy, and as such, we are bound to find more evidence of the positive psychological effects of music, as well as better ways to apply this knowledge. So in light of this evidence, everyone should feel better about keeping those i-devices blasting the hits. It's actually good for you.
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