Music Can Lift, Heal, Unite, and Inspire
By Darla Isackson
Plato said, "Music gives wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything." Can you think of better reasons to purposefully increase the place of music in your life? Good music can simply make your life better, and it's great to celebrate it.
The Benefits and Healing Power of Music
In an article called “More than Melody,” Jamie Cline writes, “For years, researchers have studied why and how music has such an enormous effect on people. Music has been found to boost athletic performance, soothe and heal injuries, help depression, autism, and Alzheimer’s, and increase academic performance. It seems there is something more to those tunes that get our toes tapping and our fingers snapping.”
Music begins where words alone end. Cline continues, “One of the amazing properties of music is that it can reach parts of the brain and evoke memories that speech simply can’t reach. Therapists frequently use music from a patient’s past to connect with them, often with significant results.”
Cline shares successes of music therapist Jennifer Birchell. She worked with a former professional baseball player with dementia whose family was able to reach him with the song, “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” Another man she worked with had lost his ability to speak because of a stroke and was angry about it. Jennifer said it was hard to get him to even try to sing because he was sure he couldn’t. Jennifer started singing “You Are My Sunshine.” When he finally tried to sing along, his eyes got really big and excited because the words were coming out of his mouth and getting clearer and clearer. She said, “From there, we took bits of the song and turned them into phrases he could use. His wife came in and he was able to sing to her, “I love you.” After Jennifer worked with him for only three weeks, this man was able to communicate well enough to go home.3
Each different element of music—voice, rhythm, harmony, etc.—is processed in a different area of the brain. “Exercising” the different parts of the brain by using music helps encourage growth and stimulates parts of the brain that may be damaged.
When music therapists work with Alzheimer’s patients, they start with slow music. As they gradually increase the beat, the patients gradually increase in responsiveness. Eventually, previously unresponsive patients begin clapping and interacting in a way that only music could have encouraged. Somehow, music is able to connect with parts of us that words alone just can’t reach.
Listening to Music Can Inspire, Motivate, and Comfort
Just listening to music has huge benefits. If you are feeling down, find and listen to a favorite music album; almost immediately you are likely to feel your mood improve. Hearing uplifting music can make a huge difference in your life. Have you ever felt hard-hearted and then heard a song that touched you deeply and opened up your heart again? What an amazing thing!
You don’t need to know why music has such power in order to be able to benefit from it. It may remain an amazing and wondrous mystery, but the power is there nonetheless. Who can’t recall moment when the beautiful strains of a favorite song lifted them, cheered them, and gave them renewed strength to go on?
Zippy tunes can motivate you to keep moving when you have household tasks that really need to be done but seem too hard or too tedious. Relaxing songs can help you unwind when you need to rest. Beautiful music can soothe your troubled heart and help you get to sleep when the worries of the world seem heavy. Music can inspire you to do better and live better.
Participating in Music
Singing or playing music is actually a good way to exercise your brain. Just as studies have shown that children actively involved in music learned to read more quickly and can acquire other languages more readily, so older people can maintain healthy brain function better when they play or sing music.
If you have ever played an instrument and set it aside, it can be great fun to take it up again. As great as it is to listen to music, it can be a notch above to make music. My husband played the cornet in junior high and still had his instrument stored on a shelf. One day, I encouraged him to take it out and play it, and he was surprised that he could still make music with it! I’ve playing the piano on and off ever since I was eight. Every time I go back to it, I find joy in playing.
Maybe the best part of playing an instrument or singing is being able to express feelings as you do so. There is something special in being able to create music; playing or singing even the most simple melodies can give a sense of fulfillment and a feeling of being alive.
In my early life, church was the main place I heard, enjoyed, and participated in music. I have only a passable voice, but singing with the congregation at church and in choirs over the years has given me joy. Have you had that experience too? Hymns are such a source of encouragement when I am down and often remind me to change my focus to the sure source of Help.
Somewhere along the start of my grade school years, my family got both a record player and a piano, and my appreciation of music soared! I distinctly remember the words of some of the few records we had, like the song, “Dance, Ballerina, Dance.” Singing along with my favorite singers on the record player, later on the radio, and now to CDs gives me a feeling of what it would be like to be a “real” singer as I blend in with great voices.
Singing can add such a warm dimension to life, whether we do it well or not. As a young mother, I enjoyed singing lullabies to my babies, and more recently, to my grandbabies. None of them cared about the quality of my voice, only about the love in it. All my adult life, I’ve found it therapeutic to belt out “cheering myself up” songs, such as “Zippity Do-Dah,” “Blue Skies,” or “On a Wonderful Day Like Today.” I’ve taught my grandchildren some of those songs, and they love them, too.
Can Music Help Us Create Unity?
The Birdsalls are a musical family that used to live close to me. As I sat in Kathy Birdsall’s homey living room one day, we got into a discussion about music. Kathy said, “I believe one of the main purposes the Lord gave us music is to teach the spiritual principle of unity and oneness. In a choir, band, or orchestra, each works in perfect harmony for a common goal.” I had to agree! I recognized that any time I’ve been part of a music group, the feeling of oneness during a performance has been exhilarating. Can that kind of experience give us glimpses into the spiritual oneness that can be possible when we work well together with people we value?
I love memories of songfests around my piano; I love to revisit the good feelings I have experienced singing with others. As we harmonize, we DO feel united—for that moment, we are one.
Some music rampant in the world today, however, does not bring peace, does not edify, does not bring unity or sound harmonious. Some modern music reminds me more of the tuning up part of a symphony orchestra, than of the symphony! We can choose to avoid music that doesn’t make us feel good and spend time instead on music that brings benefits.
Add Music to the Mix
You can find so many good reasons to make music a priority in your life. Investing in CD players and CDs of the music you love and playing it in the rooms where you spend most of your time can be a wise investment indeed. iPods that can be programmed with your favorite music and carried anywhere can be even better. Sometimes I use my iPod to fill my ears with music to crowd out the sounds of my husband’s football games! I use music to distract my mind from troubling thoughts and find that the right music can renew my soul as it relaxes my body at the same time. I use zippy music to keep me moving when I exercise, soft music to slow me down when I rest, and inspiring music to lift my spirits when I’m depressed.
Think about the place of music in your own life and what you could do to increase its positive benefits. There is no better time than the present to add more good music to the mix!
3 “More Than Melody.” LDS Living May/June 2010, pp. 23-26.