Almost everybody likes music, but not many people ask why. Even less people believe that the music is a kind of acoustic code of our physiology.
Actually, it is very easy to answer this question and to know that music is indeed a kind of acoustic code of physiology, if we can spare some time to think it over by means of our very common sense.
Origin
As a kind of symbiotic animal, we have to communicate in order to coordinate the activity of our symbiotic group so that we can survive.
Just watch the happy baby “singing” lying in the bed or cradle for a moment. Then, the mother, the closest symbiotic member, can believe instinctively that everything is going well with her baby according to his or her physiological instincts.
On the other hand, when the baby is crying in the bed, there must be something wrong with his or her physiological functions.
Therefore, obviously music is a tool of communication between members in a symbiotic group.
The three kinds of basic structural bricks of music are apparently the vibration of vocal cord (also the basis of stringed and wind instrument), the beating of heart (percussion instruments and beat), and the period of breathing (section).
The variation of length and tone color of these three bricks in conformity with the variation of our physiological functions, are used instinctively to express our feeling or physiology in order to communicate to our symbiotic members of different degree of cohesion.
That is why everybody can understand music innately without learning or translation.
Invalid Music
Since music can make us happy, it, just like happiness, can be classified into valid and invalid ones according to the optimal point of 10,000-years-ago norm. (Ref. #1,2)
As in the cases of delicious junk food, smoking, marijuana, which control our physiology by chemicals, we are facing a problem of fascinating invalid music which waste us much time and money and let our own physiology controlled by the artificially acoustic code of physiology made by others. (Ref. 2-6)
Such as indulging in:
- Folk songs too long time or singing star chasing,
- Too much complicated symphony,
- Decadent music,
- …
Conclusion
Do not let our physiology be controlled by others’ music. It will hurt us.
If you look on the Internet or go into your nearby audio store you’re likely to find music labeled “Healing Music.” The section may include music for relaxation, meditation, stress reduction, pain relief or tapping into one’s soul. There may be a variety of instruments or sounds from a forest or the ocean.
So what makes this music “healing music?”
Music has a way of stirring our innermost feelings and all of our senses, of tapping into parts of ourselves unlike anything else. Music is a universal language that has the ability to speak to us deeply and uniquely.
If you’ve paid much attention to how you respond to a variety of music, you may have noticed that some music seems to energize you, some music can move you to tears or spark a special memory of a time, place, food, or perhaps a certain person. Some music seems to make you relax, feel less stressed, and feel happier. And some music fills us with deep spiritual attunement.
The following are some examples of what I mean.
- Tapping into our innermost feelings:
Think about some of the movies you’ve seen. “Jaws” wouldn’t be the same without its daunting, low, repetitive sounds that makes you sit on the edge of your seat waiting for the shark to attack from somewhere. Then there’s “Titanic” and its gorgeous love theme that permeates throughout the movie and throughout ourselves with its bitter sweetness, generating the beauty of love and the tragedy of the massive ship’s sinking and loss of so many lives.
One aspect of “healing” music is to stir our feelings, to help us deal with grief, sadness, anger or other feelings. By allowing ourselves to FEEL those feelings, the intensity will eventually lessen and even dissipate, resulting in being healing for us. When we avoid our feelings (consciously or subconsciously) they nonetheless tend to build up inside. They don’t just go away. Music can be a tool to help us deal with feelings within us, whether we’re aware of them or not. This is one of the wonderful ways music can be incredibly healing.
- Music for an energy boost:
I recall the late 1970′s when I did housework to the Doobie Brothers’ latest album, “Minute by Minute.” It would help keep me energized and cheerful while I did the laundry, dusted and straightened (not my favorite things in the world to do). Remembering that, I recently bought the CD and I find that it still works to energize me. Handel’s Messiah is also a very energizing piece, or the last movement to Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, the famous Ode to Joy.
In The Mozart Effect, Don Campbell talks about using music in a variety of ways throughout the day, in the morning to help energize us, throughout the day to help us focus or concentrate better, music to help our intelligence, and in the evening to help us relax.
- Music for relaxation:
Sometimes I have trouble falling asleep, so I listen to relaxing music, which can be a tremendous help. Lately I’ve been listening to some wonderful Native American flute music by Scott Cunningham to help me go to sleep as well as recently during some very busy days to help me not feel so stressed out. I’ve also drifted off to sleep listening to a guided meditation by Ron Mann, Ph.D., Sleep.
What exactly is “relaxing” music? Whether we are aware of it or not, music that’s relaxing tends to slow down our heart rates to about one beat per second. If we’re feeling stressful, angry, anxious, or irritable, our heart rates tend to increase. Music can actually help our heart rates slow down to a more relaxing pace, changing our physiology. This phenomenon is what can help me fall asleep more easily. It’s what is found with many meditation tapes or other music specifically designed for stress reduction or relaxation.
- Music for spiritual attunement:
Chanting has existed for centuries. For example, there are wonderful recordings of Gregorian chants, chants from India, chants sung by Catholic or Buddhist monks and other religious or secular groups. They tend to be repetitive with the goal of deepening our spiritual lives, whatever they may be, or at the very least, to help bring peaceful feelings into our beings.
There is a large variety of music that taps into our souls. For example, I am almost finished recording music that I’ve written for a new CD (or audio tape), Journey Within. It has been a truly inspirational journey, one that has been incredibly healing. It was all written from my soul, and those qualities are heard throughout every piece.
- Choosing Music
How do we know what music to choose to be healing for us? What about the variety of musical tastes that we each have? I have some suggestions on my Bibliography page to help get you started. There are also several books listed there, such as Hal Lingerman’s, The Healing Energies of Music, which lists music categorically, a tremendously helpful resource.
If you don’t already, I encourage you to pay attention to your responses to a variety of music – physically, mentally, spiritually. To refer to when you need it, jot down the music that helps you in different ways, such as some of the examples I’ve mentioned above. That can be a valuable tool to use when you need it.
When you are thinking about how to use your interest and talent in music for a professional purpose, you will find that there are many different options open to you. One of the most attractive jobs that you might be interested in is that of film score composer, but how is this job that you are going to get? As you might suspect, this is a position that pays extremely well and is amazing resume builder if you can get it; there are many things that make this job extremely attractive, but what you do you need to know to see if it is something that you are capable of doing?
In the first place, you need to know the genre. Composing for film is much different than composing for any other genre of music, though it has some correspondence to orchestral composition. When you are looking to break into the industry, you will find that you need to listen to what other people are doing and learn what you can. John Williams, Danny Elfman, Hans Zimmer, Thomas Newman and Danny Elfman have routinely pulled down many of the major scores over the years, and getting accustomed to their work is something that any aspiring film score composer should do.
You should also be aware of the fact that you are going to be working from a storyboard version of the film or from a first cut of the film. With that in mind, you will need to figure out what moments are going to call for musical highlights and what sort of emotions the score needs to help the movie evoke. Although the score is something that is a part of the background, it is a very important tool when it comes to making sure that the people who are watching the film get the right idea.
When you are writing music for a film, always remember that you should write more music than is called for. Assume that the scenes will run the longest that they can run and never shortchange a scene when it comes the music. To get some experience with this, you will find that working with aspiring film students can help. Offer to do scores for them, or try rewriting the scores for movies that you are familiar with.
Remember that a rock solid background in music composition at the university level is extremely important as well. Listen and learn and remember that this is a position that takes a great deal of work!