Does Music Have Healing Powers?
We do not need music to live: we cannot breathe it, it is not food or drink, it does not keep us warm. Or maybe it would be more exact to say that our bodies do not need music. Our brains do. Music is like all arts just another human act of creation. But since it appeared, and more than that, it became extremely popular, it is clearly that music is the result of a necessity. This art is thought by many to have a powerful effect on our souls, on our brains to be more exact.
The history of the effect music has upon us begins with a story: we all know the story of the nightingale which cured the seek emperor with its beautiful songs. It may continue with a very common thing: since the oldest times mothers use singing to soothe their babies. Have you ever wondered about that? Or is it such a natural thing that you’ve never asked why? It is partly the mother’s voice that soothes the baby, but the babies are usually receptive to other people singing as well. So it’s more than the voice that matters.
Among the pioneer studies on this topic was the one made in the 1970s at the Colorado College in Denver. Those in charge with this study concluded that plants responded to music and even had preferences. Musical styles such as classical music, jazz or Indian music caused the plants to grow larger and healthier and even pointed in the direction of the music source, just as they do with the sun. Hard rock or heavy metal caused the plants to grow slower and away from the music source. During the experiment the quantity of music seemed also important: plants exposed to music for 3 hours a day evolved a lot better than those exposed for 8 hours a day. These results made some say that plants are a lot more sensitive than we believed them to be and that they are capable of having preferences. Still, other scientists think that plants do not have preferences and that they respond rather to vibrations’ frequency than to musical types.
Animals appreciate music in their own way. Many of our pets show like or dislike for different types of music. A cat usually leaves the room if it does not like the music. Dogs are also sensitive to this art. They even try sometimes to imitate it by howling. While some believe this to be a funny answer, recent studies showed up that dogs are rather annoyed by certain sounds and this is why they howl. Still, there are types of music that animals like and which comforts them. An experiment made in the zoo of the Chicago’s Lincoln Park made the animals stay still and listen while a violinist was playing slow music.
Today many scientists advise young mothers to play music for the babies even before their birth. Especially classical music, with its complex structure, it is thought to be of help in the forming of new pathways in the young brains and to improve later spatial analysis. Knowing to play an instrument (like the PRS Guitars) can also improve math and strategy skills. Music can make us sad or happier, it can give us energy or it can calm us. But can it heal us? To respond to this question is to identify that strange connection between our dispositions and the way our bodies function. Until then we can know for sure that music sounds great for our souls.
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