Music In Our Schools Month News Dr. Gloria Pasle, MIOSM Chair
MUSIC AND EMOTION
Do the two correlate? Does it make sense to have one without the other? Can they stand on their own without each other, be independent of each other? Can you as a human separate the two of them or are they so entwined?. Are you charged up when you hear your favorite music such as Beethoven’s “Ninth Symphony” or Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” or The Notorious Big’s “Juicy?” Or are you oblivious to music when it plays. “Well, hardly,” you might say, “I am a music educator? All types of music can send me for a tail spin whenever I am listening or teaching it. ”
There are several articles that point to the relationship of music and emotion. When having the students understand this relationship, I had them read various articles from
ReadWorks.org, that point to this strong interrelationship. For example, the article “Music and Your Mind” by Kirsten Weir and Debbie Nivens from
ReadWorks.org states, “Only humans make music—it is literally part of us. Our brains are hardwired for it. Scientists don’t know why. Perhaps it has to do with music’s ability to communicate emotion.” The speed of music has a psychological affect on people as well. The article continues, “Pump It Up, Slow It Down Music has the power to affect the body. Listening to fast, upbeat songs can make a person’s heart rate and breathing rate speed up. . . Soothing music does the opposite. It brings down heart and breathing rates (Weir & Nivens, 2015).”
In playing an instrument, Kyria Abraham, in her article “Music Inside Us” from
ReadWorks.org says that music is emotionally attached to us. All we need to do is find the correct instrument and the instrument will bring the emotion out of us. Learning to play the piano, a student describes her emotional state, “When I left for school in the morning, I would leave sheet music open on the piano. . . When I got home from school, I wouldn’t even take my backpack off. I’d walk straight to the piano and sit down and start playing the sheet music I had left open that morning. I had finally found the music inside of me. We all have music inside of us, even if it’s just what we listen to (Abraham, 2013).”
“Music can be just what you need when you’re feeling down. The right song can make you smile as you daydream. . . It can make you feel like getting up and dancing. It also can calm you down when you’re worried. In the movies, music sets the mood, whether it’s a horror scene or a happy ending. Besides changing how you feel, music may help make your brain work better. It may even help keep you healthy. Why does music have these powers? It may be because people’s bodies have natural rhythms, such as a heartbeat and pulse. Different kinds of music can affect you in different ways. Changing your mood can be as easy as pressing the “play” button,” so states the article, “About You: How Music Affects Your Moods,” in
ReadWorks.org (2012).
In her book, Music Matters--A Philosophy of Music Education, Marissa Silvermann shows in the chapter entitled, “Empathy and Music Education,” we as music educators understand the relationships between music, emotion and personhood. Part of what’s going on is related to the importance of empathy. “Empathy implies that we adopt (consciously or non-consciously) the perspectives or emotional dispositions of another person in an effort to understand and respond compassionately, responsibly, and ethically (Elliot & Silvermann, 2014).”
summer 2017 |
www.mmea.net
See PASLEY, pg. 44 43
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