Is music good for you?
There’s no secret about the fact that music is incredibly meaningful.
We feel it.
It seems to speak to us on a level that’s just altogether deeper than the words, the melodies, the instruments, the individual sounds, and the rhythms put together.
But here’s the real question.
Is music actually good for you? Or is it just pleasant to listen to?
According to an article published on HopkinsMedicine.org, research has shown that listening to music can help to reduce anxiety. But it can also lower your blood pressure, decrease pain, and improve sleep quality.
It can even increase mental alertness and improve your mood.
But why?
This is actually a good question.
Experts aren’t totally sure why music affects us the way it does.
They aren’t even totally sure how our brains hear or play music.
When a string is plucked on an instrument, when someone sings, when a horn or trumpet is blown to produce a note, or when a drum is struck to produce a sound, the sound waves make vibrations in the air that travel to our eardrums.
Then, our eardrums vibrate and turn the sound into an electrical signal, which travels to the auditory nerve in the brain stem.
Here, it is reassembled into what we know as ‘music.’
One interesting fact about music is that it’s structured and mathematical. A lot of what makes music noticeable, enjoyable, and distinctive comes from the overarching context of it.
For example:
A random jumble of sounds may not be perceived as music.
But when a particular sequence of notes is played according to a certain rhythm… Well, that’s perceived as music.
One otolaryngologist, quoted in the article, said it like this:
“Music is structural, mathematical and architectural. It’s based on relationships between one note and the next. You may not be aware of it, but your brain has to do a lot of computing to make sense of it.”
You can actually use music to give you several brain and motivation boosts throughout the day.
You can use music to jump start your creativity, recall memories from long ago, motivate you for a successful day at work or before a competitive event, or even to help you come to terms with different types of feelings and emotions you may be feeling.
So, the short answer is:
Yes.
Music is absolutely good for you.
And it pays dividends for your health and wellness to enjoy it.
Of course, everyone has slightly different tastes in music.
And it definitely pays to find music that you like.
So get out there and find some tunes that you love to jam out to.
You can also plug in some music you used to enjoy when you were younger, and enjoy some of those old-fashioned feelings that you used to feel while listening to it.
Sometimes, using music to get back in-touch with your feelings after not experiencing them for a while can be a great way to get back in-touch with yourself.