THE POWER OF MUSIC
Music has the power to stir our emotions, to move us to dance, cry or be still in wonder. Think about how adeptly a movie’s music sound track adds to its drama and helps to lift you into the movie’s emotional highs and lows. Music can affect the body and mind in very powerful ways. Scientific evidence has shown that music can change our mood or help us concentrate. It is even used to heal. Hospitals are beginning to use music therapy to help with pain management and to help ease stress and muscle tension. ¹
Music and the Brain – Body Connection
Music can help your mood by stimulating the brain which affects changes in other bodily functions like breathing and heart rate. Some people listen to music to help them focus, re-energize or to help them relax. Listening to music with strong beats results in brainwaves resonating in sync with the beats of the music, which gives one more concentration and alert thinking. It doesn’t matter what your taste in music is, enjoying your favorite music could help your mood, according to a 2011 Canadian study, published in Nature Neuroscience. ²
Studies have also found that the beats per minute, the speed of a piece of music, can determine what music is best for performing certain tasks. For instance, to stimulate learning listen to music with 50 to 80 beats per minute, such as Mirrors by Justin Timberlake. This tempo has a calming effect on the mind that is conducive to logical thought, allowing the brain to learn and remember new facts, according to psychologist, Dr. Emma Grey
When selecting music for the fitness classes I teach, I match the music to the tempo of the workout. It helps participants get better results. A study at Brunel University in West London has shown that music can increase endurance by as much as 15 per cent and help lower the perception of effort during a workout.
Music and Wellness
Listening to music can stimulate reactivate speech centers of the brain, prompt memory and improve gait and coordination. Gait training that uses music, significantly improves balance, coordination and walking speed for people with Parkinson’s. Patients who participated in music therapy improved their ability to do such tasks as cut food and get dressed, and said they were less likely to experience the freezing-up of muscles that occurs with Parkinson’s. ³
Music can help promote positive focus and it is used as therapy in dealing with mental health conditions. Researchers at McGill University in Montreal showed that listening to pleasurable music of any kind triggered the release of the feel‑good chemical dopamine. It’s no wonder that I love music and singing; it’s a good kind of high!
“Music acts like a magic key, to which the most tightly closed heart opens.” – Maria von Trapp
My sister, Maria, and I sing with a big band. We love to get people dancing and in a good mood with music.
The Alberici Sisters
We’re grateful for music and for the wonderful musicians in our life.
We recently paid tribute to Frank Sinatra’s 100th birthday in a show and a fan captured a song on video! Enjoy “Fly Me To the Moon.”
You can read stories about when Maria and I performed with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and friends in our book, Beyond Our Wildest Dreams!
Keep a song in your heart, Linda
“My heart , O God, is steadfast; I will sing and make music with all my soul.” – Psalm 108:1
BEYOND OUR WILDEST DREAMS is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Alibis.
Footnotes:
1. http://stress.about.com/od/tensiontamers/a/music_therapy.htm
2. http://www.wwu.edu/wwura/1301.pdf
3. Mind-Body-Spirit News June 01, 2007 by Shirley Archer, JD, MA & http://www.webmd.com/parkinsons-disease/news/20000620/music-helps-parkinsons-patients
*This blog is dedicated to my dear friend, Joanne, who is bravely living with Parkinson’s.
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The GRATITUDE Life 